Israelis raid Arafat's base again

RAMALLAH - Israeli forces raided Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Ramallah compound yesterday, just hours before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was due to meet United States President George W. Bush in Washington.

Palestinian residents said at least two dozen tanks, armoured personnel carriers and jeeps thrust into the West Bank city.

They were covered by helicopters hovering overhead and bursts of machinegun fire.

Palestinian security sources said Israeli gunfire killed a Palestinian policeman during the raid.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said Arafat was in the compound but was safe. Israel has repeatedly said it does not intend to harm the Palestinian leader.

Residents said armoured Israeli bulldozers were destroying the ruins of buildings damaged in a similar Israeli raid last week.

That raid was launched after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 17 people, including 13 soldiers, on a civilian bus.

An Israeli military source confirmed that an operation was under way in Ramallah and said it was aimed at "arresting militants and destroying the terror infrastructure".

The source said the operation would be "limited in duration" and was similar to many other Israeli raids into Palestinian-ruled cities.

Abed Rabbo accused Israel of trying to undermine the Palestinian Authority at a time it was undertaking reforms.

"This operation is under way while Sharon resumes his visit to Washington," he said. "This shows that the US Administration supports this occupation and operation.

"Is that the message from Washington, that Israel should abort the reform campaign and the new Government before it even starts it?"

The Israeli incursion took place shortly after Arafat showed signs of trying to placate the US by announcing a shakeup of his cabinet and ordering his security forces to arrest a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group.

The Palestinian leader pared his cabinet from 31 ministers to 21, put a cabinet minister in charge of security forces and ordered his police to arrest a leader of the Islamic Jihad group behind last week's suicide attack on an Israeli bus.

Palestinian police yesterday made a high-profile arrest of Islamic Jihad leader Sheikh Abdallah Shami and 14 other members of the militant group.

Shami, who has been arrested and released by Palestinian security forces several times, was detained in Gaza City.

Washington had demanded that the Palestinian President reform his administration and rein in militants.

As part of the shakeup, Arafat appointed a new Interior Minister, General Abdel-Razzaq al-Yahya, to head a streamlined security force made up of often rival security agencies.

Abed Rabbo said the move was to "prevent an overlap".

The militant Hamas group called the cabinet changes superficial and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine group expressed scepticism and demanded a date for promised presidential and parliamentary elections.

Israel received the news coolly. Dore Gold, an adviser to Sharon, said: "If we see fundamental change in the behaviour of the Palestinian security forces in which they intercept the attacks against Israel and not collaborate with them, we'll know that something big has occurred."

Sharon will be holding his sixth round of talks with Bush since the right-wing Israeli leader took office in March last year. Bush has never held talks with Arafat.

- REUTERS

Feature: Middle East

Related links