Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat said Tuesday he was prepared to step aside and become "the Palestinian Nelson Mandela", but added that he would do so only after the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In an interview with the London-based daily Asharq Al-Awsat, Arafat announced that he was planning to run in the next elections for the presidency of the PA. No date has been set for the elections, although Arafat recently said he was hoping that the vote would take place in April or May next year.
He said Israel's attempts to create a new Palestinian leadership were doomed to failure because the Palestinians would not accept another Hamid Karazai – the US backed president of Afghanistan.
Arafat said he did not share the opinion of some Palestinian officials that the Palestinians had made a mistake by "militarizing" the intifada.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1096959300691.............................................................
riiiiiight,yassir....whatever you say.