Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei expressed hope on Monday that the Tel Aviv suicide bombing attack earlier in the day would not affect the return of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Ramallah from France after his medical treatment.

The ailing Palestinian leader was airlifted from his Ramallah compound to a military hospital in Paris last Friday to receive medical treatment.

Qurei told reporters that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had earlier said to him personally on telephone that Arafat could come back to Ramallah without any rejection after he finished the medical treatment in the French hospital.

He hoped the Tel Aviv attack, which killed four Israelis and wounded 30 others earlier on Monday, would not affect the Israeli guarantee.

Meanwhile, the prime minister noted that the joint meeting of his cabinet and the highest council for national security earlier in the day "had evaluated the situation on the ground after the suicide bombing attack in Tel Aviv."

He affirmed that his government asked all the Palestinian security apparatuses to work in full coordination to prevent any violence or any attempt to violate law and discipline.

Qurei admitted that there were concerns over both the deterioration of Arafat's health and "a status of chaos that could dominate the Palestinian territories."

"We are in a permanent contact with President Arafat and we won't carry out any action or step without holding direct contact and coordination with him," said Qurei.

Source: Xinhua