Gunfights rage at Arafat's door

Israeli soldiers encircling Yasser Arafat's headquarters traded fire with the Palestinian leader's bodyguards last night as Israel defied a United Nations call to lift the siege.

Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said Israeli forces were trying to punch their way into a new area of the battered compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"They tried several times to storm the western gate," he said from inside. "The confrontations are still going on. A lot of people are injured ... The situation is very dangerous."

The Israeli Army said it had not entered the actual building where Mr Arafat was holed up. Troops had returned fire when a Palestinian shot at them from near his office.

"We are surrounding his offices, trying to isolate him as the Government instructed us," Army spokesman Ron Kitrey told Israel Radio.

"A short while ago an armed Palestinian came out of Arafat's office and opened fire at our troops ... Afterwards there were more exchanges of fire, but we are not talking about an attempt to take over or enter his offices."

Israel has repeatedly denied that it means to harm the Palestinian leader.

"Our decision is not to hurt Arafat," said Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

"We don't want to turn this into a world war or a regional war."

Israel launched its onslaught on Friday after a suicide bombing killed 22 Israelis at the start of the Jewish Passover holiday last week. On Saturday, another suicide bomber blew himself up in a Tel Aviv restaurant, wounding 32 people in an attack claimed by a group linked to Mr Arafat's Fatah faction.

Palestinian officials said Israeli forces had delivered an ultimatum that they would storm Mr Arafat's offices to arrest wanted militants they believed were hiding there.

But Israeli officials denied making such a threat, although security sources believe the mastermind of the assassination of a far-right cabinet minister in October is hiding in the compound.

The UN Security Council, in a resolution passed with rare support from Israel's closest ally, the United States, urged the Jewish state to withdraw from Ramallah and other Palestinian cities.

US President George W. Bush, spending Easter at his Texas ranch, called on both sides to find a way to peace. But he placed the onus for the latest violence on the Palestinians, saying he understood Israel's need to defend itself.

- REUTERS

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