Sharon to let Arafat out of Ramallah

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stunned the right wing yesterday when he said in the morning he was dropping his demand for seven days of quiet before engaging the Palestinians in cease-fire negotiations, and later said he would abide by his commitment and let Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat out of Ramallah after the PA arrested all the suspected conspirators in the assassination of former tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi.

Sharon's statement at the opening of the expanded security cabinet meeting sent the right wing of the government, the National Union/Yisrael Beitenu bloc, scrambling to announce it was quitting the government. Other right-wing ministers, like Natan Sharansky of Yisrael B'Aliyah, said they were disturbed by the prime minister's decision.

Sharon's remarks regarding Arafat's release appeared to be coordinated with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. As Vice President Richard Cheney departed for a 10-day swing to the Middle East to discuss the next stages of the war against terror and Washington prepared to send special envoy Anthony Zinni back to the region, Powell told CBS' Face the Nation that the United States believes Israel should lift its siege on Arafat. He also said that the United States is in favor of sending American observers with Zinni to monitor cease-fire violations. The secretary of state said both Israel and the Palestinians were "receptive" to the monitors idea; in the past, Israel has vehemently opposed any international observers sent to the region.