[originaltext] The Bush administration Friday reaffirmed its opposition to Is

The Bush administration Friday reaffirmed its opposition to Israel trying to exile or kill Palestinian leader Yasser Ararat. The comments followed an assertion by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that he was no longer bound by a commitment to the United States not to harm the Palestinian Authority chief.
   A senior Bush administration official says the United States has made it "entirely clear" that it would oppose any action to harm Yasser Arafat and that the U. S. position has been reiterated to Israeli authorities following the latest Sharon remarks.
   The Israeli Prime Minister said in a television interview Friday that he told President Bush at their White House meeting last week that he had released himself from a commitment he made to the United States three years ago not to physically harm Mr. Arafat.
   The senior administration official, who spoke to reporters at the White House, said the issue had come up at the April 14 meeting and that the President reiterated U. S. opposition to such an action.
   He said the matter had been taken up with Israel following the Sharon interview remarks and that the United States considers the Sharon promise to still be operative. "We consider a pledge," he said, "a pledge."