Israeli defence minister Shaul Mofaz said this morning he was in favour of expelling Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from the West Bank because he was complicating peace moves.
"I think Israel made a historic mistake by not expelling him [Arafat] about two years ago. . . . As for the future I believe that we will need to address this matter in a relatively short space of time, very possibly even this year," Mr Mofaz said in an interview.
Mr Mofaz has advocated expelling Arafat in the past but has been overruled by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.