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DJ Arafat Urges World To Help As Israelis Besiege Compound
09/20/2002
Dow Jones News Services
(Copyright © 2002 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)--Yasser Arafat, caught in the tightest Israeli chokehold yet, pleaded for the world's help after troops blew up buildings in his compound Friday, started digging a deep trench and running coils of barbed wire around his office.
The White House and the E.U. urged Israel to show restraint, suggesting that too harsh a reprisal for a Tel Aviv bus blast claimed by Arafat's Islamic militant rivals would upset quiet efforts to reform the Palestinian Authority and secure a truce. Six people were killed in Thursday's bus attack.
It appeared the siege wouldn't end quickly.
Israel said troops would only withdraw after the surrender of 20 wanted men holed up in the compound, including West Bank intelligence chief Tawfik Tirawi. Arafat's aides said he wouldn't hand anyone from in his entourage to the Israelis.
Enraged by the bus attack, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reportedly raised the idea of expelling Arafat at an emergency Cabinet meeting Thursday. Defense minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, said the plan - for now - was to isolate, not oust the Palestinian leader.
However, television reports said the ultimate goal of the current assault is to make Arafat seek exile voluntarily, by confining him to a tiny area and making life in the compound unbearable. Ben-Eliezer, arguing that an outright expulsion is counterproductive and would only boost Arafat's standing, proposed that plan to Sharon in the Cabinet meeting, TV's Channel Two said.
Arafat has said he would never leave the Palestinian lands.
The Palestinians said Arafat was in grave danger. The office where Arafat is staying shook badly with one of the explosions Friday, said his adviser, Nabil Abu Rdeneh. "They (soldiers) continue blowing up buildings around us," he said. Large clouds of puffy, gray smoke wafted across the compound after each blast.
Israeli bulldozers also started digging a deep trench around Arafat's office building. Palestinian security sources said troops later ran barbed wire around the building.
In other developments Friday, four Palestinians were killed by army fire, including an Arafat bodyguard shot by snipers in the Ramallah compound and three civilians killed in Israeli incursions and clashes in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli strikes followed Thursday's attack, in which a suicide bomber set off nail-studded explosives on a crowded bus, killing five Israelis and a 19-year-old Jewish seminary student from Glasgow, Scotland.
The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility, in a leaflet sent to the Arabic satellite TV station Al Jazeera.
Even before the latest assault, Arafat's sprawling compound was already heavily damaged, a result of previous Israeli raids. During a major military offensive in March and April, Israeli troops confined Arafat to a few rooms for 34 days.
In June, troops reoccupied Ramallah and most other West Bank towns, and Arafat hasn't ventured from his compound since then, even on days when a military curfew was lifted.
Arafat was in relatively good spirits Friday, those around him said. He was kept awake at night by the shooting and bulldozers toppling walls, but performed Friday prayers - the highlight of the Muslim week - in his office before taking an afternoon nap. Water and electricity hadn't been cut, unlike in earlier raids.
Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad, who said he got a few hours of sleep rolled up in a blanket on the floor, said the mood around Arafat was defiant.
"We are confident of our ability to overcome this crisis," he said in a telephone interview.
Throughout the day, Arafat spoke to several European officials and Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Jordan's King Abdullah. Arafat asked them to pressure Israel to lift the siege. Arab leaders told Arafat they would seek an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council to discuss a demand for an immediate Israeli withdrawal, said Abu Rdeneh.
Washington cautioned Israel to show restraint, while also urging the Palestinians to try to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians. "Israel has the right to defend itself and to deal with security, but Israel also has a need to bear in mind the consequences of action and Israel's stake in development of reforms in the Palestinian institutions," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
The European Union condemned the recent suicide attacks, but said in a statement issued in Copenhagen that "restricting freedom of movement of the Palestinian leadership does not contribute to fighting terror."
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 09-20-02
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