by Ewen MacAskill and Seumas Milne, July 2, 2002, Guardian UK

Mohammed Dahlan, the man widely regarded as the US and Israel's preferred successor to Yasser Arafat, today accuses President Bush of demanding a "coup d'état" against the Palestinian leader and declares that he will not stand against Mr Arafat while he is under attack by Israel.

While conceding "reservations" about some of Mr Arafat's decisions, Mr Dahlan - who stood down as head of Palestinian security in Gaza last month - says Mr Bush's intervention had backfired and would keep Mr Arafat in place, rather than encouraging reform and a new generation of leaders.

Writing in the Guardian, Mr Dahlan says one result of Mr Bush's intervention is that the latest polls show nine out of 10 Palestinians would vote for Mr Arafat. "As long as the Israelis are against Arafat, I'm with him - whatever reservations I have about some of the decisions that have been made."

Mr Dahlan's conclusion supports the European view that Mr Bush made a misjudgment in his speech last week by targeting Mr Arafat. The speech opened a rift between the US and European countries, including Britain, which have said they will continue to work with Mr Arafat.

The strain in transatlantic relations has worsened over the past few days in a row over the international criminal court. Private criticism of the US by European governments has reached unprecedented levels because US hostility to the court threatens the peacekeeping missions in the Balkans.

The Arafat row has also widened the split within the American administration. The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, had shared the view of the Europeans but was overruled by Mr Bush, and, in a humiliating climbdown on Sunday, in effect severed ties with the Palestinian leader.

The Palestinian election will be held next January. Without the US ultimatum Mr Dahlan would almost certainly have been a contender.

Before Mr Bush's speech, Mr Dahlan and others had been quietly preparing for the succession. But such moves now appear to have been scuppered. Mr Dahlan said: "While the chairman is under siege, it would be wrong to criticise him - that would only serve Israel and America. There is no question of changing the leadership in these circumstances. If they try to expel or kill him - and anything is possible in the era of Bush and Sharon - they will come to regret it bitterly. Bush is now effectively demanding a coup d'état against Arafat, because the American administration says even if he is re-elected in new elections, it will not deal with him."

Mr Dahlan - who remains a close adviser to Mr Arafat - yesterday ridiculed what he called the "lies and false allegations" that he was somehow favoured by Israel, recalling an incident last year when his car was shot at by Israeli soldiers.

Mr Bush found himself isolated on the Arafat issue last week at the G8 summit in Canada . The Arab world is also uniting behind Mr Arafat.

The de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Abdullah, yesterday said his country "rejects any intervention by any side in Arab internal affairs, and on top of it the affairs of the Palestinian people, who alone have the right to choose their leadership".

Reproduced from:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/0,2759,377264,00.html