(2003-09-11) -- A senior Palestinian security official said today that if Israel expels PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat it could destabilize the region.

"Yasser Arafat has been a stabilizing force, a voice of calm," said the unnamed Palestinian. "He is our Gandhi; our Martin Luther King. Without him, the leaders of social service agencies like Hamas and Islamic Jihad may lose hope and resort to violence. We could see the slaughter of innocent civilians on buses and at cafes and wedding receptions. O, the humanity!"

The official said he hopes the United States will step in and protect the Palestinian leader, a Nobel peace prize winner.