Former Palestinian minister of interior affairs Mohamed Dahlan warned yesterday that violence will continue if Israel does not pull out from the Palestinian territories.

Dahlan told reporters in a news conference in Gaza that the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip would minimize the cycle of violence between Israel and the Palestinians."But if Israel does not withdraw from the occupied territories,the Palestinian militants would continue their attacks against Israel,and Israel would continue carrying out retaliatory actions,"said Dahlan.

He denied recent reports that he blasted Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat by saying that Arafat does not deserve to be the leader of the Palestinian people and must be replaced.

"I did not make any interview recently with Israeli or foreign newspaper,but I had an interview with an American newspaper a few days ago and I reiterated that Arafat is the elected leader of our people,"said Dahlan.

He revealed that his ties with Arafat are in a good shape,adding that the Israeli threats to target Arafat "are very serious and would drag the whole region into an endless war."Enditem