WORLD : Sharon Equates Arafat, Reagan

WASHINGTON —  el Sharon, Israel’s minister of industry and trade, said today that Israel should “remove” PLO leader Yasser Arafat and that the United States tried to kill Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi.

Sharon also said he would like to lead Israel to a peace agreement with its neighbors but rejected ceding any captured Arab lands.

The visiting retired general told reporters “there are certain people whose activities cannot be tolerated by free, democratic societies. Therefore, they should be removed.”

Former President Ronald Reagan tried to kill Kadafi in an air raid in April, 1986, because it was believed the Libyan strongman had ordered a bomb placed in a West German discotheque frequented by U.S. servicemen, Sharon said. “Arafat is in the same category,” he added.