BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Yasser Arafat likened himself to South Africa's Nelson Mandela and said he would relinquish power after a Palestinian state is established.
Arafat said he will give up all his political and security posts and be happy with a ceremonial one in an independent and viable state.
"I am ready to be another Nelson Mandela ... I agree to that only after the creation of the Palestinian state which I would preside in the beginning and than step down," he told the Saudi daily al-Sharq al-Awsat.
He expressed fears plans were under way to divide the Middle East once again to sabotage the chances for a Palestinian state.
"That will mean that there will be no peace and no stability in the Middle East," he said.
Arafat stressed that the only way out of the current crisis between Israel and the Palestinians "is for the world community to press for the implementation" of the road map for peace drafted by the so-called Quartet -- the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia.
