Christian Message Boards: Arafat Under Siege for Six Months

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Posted by barrykind (Member # 35) on :

Arafat Under Siege for Six Months
By JAMIE TARABAY Associated Press Writer
published 08:11 AM - JULY 05, 2002 Eastern Time

A guard to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat stands vigil at the entrance of Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah Wednesday, July 3, 2002. Arafat remains inside the compound under a 24-hour Israeli military curfew.(AP Photo/John Moore)
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) _ For Yasser Arafat, the Israeli siege of his Ramallah headquarters has become a way of life. His office surrounded again and again by Israeli tanks, the Palestinian leader has only occasionally stepped outside over the past six months.

Palestinian police on Wednesday lounged around the courtyard of the badly battered compound, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee.

Israeli tanks encircled the city-block-sized compound 10 days ago for the third time in recent weeks, trapping Arafat and his top aides inside. Israeli forces enforced a curfew in Ramallah and declared Arafat's compound off limits to reporters. However, several journalists sneaked inside Wednesday.

Scaffolding stands where builders have started repairing a building, while in other places, holes are blocked with scrap metal.

Rows of sandbags reinforce windows and doors inside the compound. In the yard, cars flattened by Israeli tanks are piled on top of each other.

Aides close to Arafat _ including adviser Nabil Abu Rdeneh, intelligence chief Tawfik Tirawi and Faisal Abu Sharkh, West Bank head of the Force 17 special security unit _ are with the 72-year-old leader.

Arafat is continuing to meet with Palestinian officials and the occasional diplomat such as Mike O'Brien, British Foreign Office minister for the Middle East, brought to the compound under Israeli military escort. However, Arafat did not emerge to talk to the reporters.

A group of international activists showing solidarity with the Palestinians managed to get into the compound. The number of people in the group is not clear.

For those inside, days and nights have blended into one another, with World Cup soccer the only diversion breaking the monotony.

For six months since the compound was first encircled by Israeli tanks, Arafat has spent every night in his headquarters, making only a few daytime excursions beyond its perimeters.

During a dramatic monthlong siege that ended May 2, Israeli tanks and bulldozers smashed their way through an outer wall of the compound and destroyed three buildings, trapping Arafat in a windowless office.

Pictures of the stubble-faced leader holed up without electricity, water and with little food, huddled with advisers by candlelight, were beamed around the world.

On June 6, Israeli forces shelled Arafat's master bedroom in a brief reprisal for the killing of 17 Israelis in a car bomb attack. Arafat was elsewhere in the building at the time.