We have determined elemental abundance ratios in the core of the Perseus cluster for several elements .
These ratios indicate a central dominance of SN Ia ejecta similar to that found for A496 , A2199 and A3571 ( Dupke & White 2000a ) .
Simultaneous analysis of ASCA spectra from SIS1 , GIS 2 & 3 shows that the ratio of Ni to Fe abundances is \sim 3.4 \pm 1.1 times Solar within the central 4 ^ { \prime } .
This ratio is consistent with ( and more precise than ) that observed in other clusters whose central regions are dominated by SN Ia ejecta .
Such a large Ni over-abundance is predicted by “ Convective Deflagration ” explosion models for SN Ia such as “ W7 ” but is inconsistent with delayed detonation models .
We note that with current instrumentation the Ni K \alpha line is confused with Fe K \beta and that the Ni over-abundance we observe has been interpreted by others as an anomalously large ratio of Fe K \beta to Fe K \alpha caused by resonant scattering in the Fe K \alpha line .
We argue that a central enhancement of SN Ia ejecta and hence a high ratio of Ni to Fe is naturally explained by scenarios that include the generation of chemical gradients by suppressed SN Ia winds or ram-pressure stripping of cluster galaxies .
It is not necessary to suppose that the intracluster gas is optically thick to resonant scattering of the Fe K \alpha line .