TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The Israeli Government will not rule out simply killing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a cabinet minister told Israel Radio.
In an interview, Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said it was now only a practical question of how to get rid of Arafat, the BBC reported Sunday.
"Killing (Arafat) is definitely one of the options," Olmert said.
Last week the Israeli security cabinet agreed in principle to "remove" Arafat, but deliberately left the meaning of the word open, the BBC said.
Israel is now freely admitting it lumps the Palestinian leader with officials of militant organizations such as Hamas, the BBC said.
Olmert described him as a "murderer" and a "killer."
But Sunday's Israeli cabinet meeting gave no hint when any move against Arafat might take place.
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, described Olmert's remarks as a mafia-style statement, inappropriate for a government, the BBC said.
