Israel has no immediate plans to kill Yasser Arafat, despite Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's latest threats against the Palestinian leader, Israel's vice premier said yesterday.

　　Sharon said on Friday that he was no longer bound by an obligation he made to the United States not to harm Arafat. The comments infuriated the Palestinians, and the White House said President George W. Bush remains opposed to attacks on Arafat.

　　Arafat said yesterday that he isn't afraid to die.

　　Ahead of an Israeli Cabinet meeting yesterday, Vice Premier Ehud Olmert and Minister Gideon Ezra said Sharon has no immediate plans to expel or assassinate Arafat. Instead, they said, Sharon had repeated a long-standing Israeli position.

　　"The prime minister doesn't intend to carry out anything next week or today or tomorrow," Vice Premier Ehud Olmert, a Sharon confidant, told Army Radio. "He just repeated a general principle regarding Arafat, regarding the immunity that he thought he had."

　　Last September, Israel's Cabinet decided Arafat should be "removed" after a pair of suicide bombings killed 15 Israelis. While Israel has repeatedly threatened Arafat since then, Sharon took the threats to a new level on Friday by revealing he had discussed the Israeli position in a meeting with George W. Bush.

　　Israel has killed dozens of militants, including the leaders of the Islamic group Hamas, in targeted attacks during 3 1/2 years of fighting. But under US pressure, it has left Arafat alone, confining him instead to his headquarters for two years.

　　About 400 Palestinian schoolchildren visited Arafat at his West Bank headquarters yesterday, chanting anti-Sharon slogans and calling for an end to Israel's siege of the Palestinian leader.

　　Speaking to reporters afterward, Arafat said he is not afraid to die. "Our destiny is to be martyrs in this holy land," he said. "We stand fast until the end of our lives."

　　Nonetheless, Palestinian officials said Arafat is taking the threats seriously. Hani al-Hassan, a senior official in Arafat's Fatah movement, said the group had decided to boost security around Arafat. He gave no further details.

　　Sharon's threats is aimed at support for his withdrawal plan from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.

　　His Likud Party is holding a referendum on the plan on May 2, and polls show Sharon with only a small lead. Sharon says the withdrawal will improve Israel's security, but opponents accuse the prime minister of caving in to terrorism.

　　Sharon met with several influential ministers, including Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Limor Livnat, yesterday, looking for help in a public-relations campaign in favor of his proposal.

　　The two ministers, who have given lukewarm support to the plan, declined to take a more active role in promoting it, Army Radio reported.

　　(The Associated Press)