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.

"The militarization of the intifada is a natural matter in light of the Israeli massacres and occupation," he said. "If some Palestinians have (different) views, this means we have a democracy. It is natural that there is a resistance to the occupation and massacres."

Arafat was apparently referring to statements made by former PA prime minister Mahmoud Abbas who recently said in an interview with a Jordanian newspaper that the intifada was "a mistake and it should not have continued, especially the so-called militarization of the intifada."

Arafat repeated his claims that Israel was using depleted uranium against the Palestinians. "Unfortunately, the US went to war in Iraq under the banner of [searching for] uranium," he added.

"But Israel is using uranium against us and that's why there has been an increase in the number of cancer cases. The number of cases is unbelievable. It has become like Hiroshima and Nagazaki in Japan after World War Two. The rate of infertility among Palestinians has also increased."

Arafat admitted that he and Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei had clashed on a number of issues, but said there were no differences between them today. He said that he was still hoping to meet with Abbas, who has been boycotting him and the Palestinian leadership for over two years.

"I haven't met with him since his resignation," Arafat said. "Unfortunately, he is boycotting the meetings of the PLO executive committee and the Fatah central council."

The two reporters who interviewed Arafat noted that while in Ramallah they heard complaints from many Palestinians about rampant corruption among the top brass of the PA.

They quoted a senior Fatah official as saying, "I wish Israel would reoccupy us and eliminate the Palestinian Authority so that Israel would become responsible for all our expenses. We are living a serious illusion. On the surface, we have an authority, but in reality we don't have an authority. The PA only pays salaries after begging for money each time from a different source."

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