- (AFP) -- Israeli tanks stood menacingly just 10 metres
from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's office today after the army destroyed
every other building in his headquarters, detaining 19 of their occupants.
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- Three loud explosions rocked the ruins of the 3,000 square
metre compound during the morning, sending a large plume of white smoke
into the air above the Palestinian leader's office as Israeli sappers demolished
an annexe.
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- The trio of blasts, which demolished an adjacent interior
ministry block, caused some damage to the building where the Palestinian
leader is holed up with an estimated 200 to 250 aides and security officials.
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- After the explosions, an Israeli bulldozer pulled up
alongside the offices, striking the walls several times with its blade
before withdrawing.
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- A single wall is now all that remains of the interior
ministry building, leaving Arafat's refuge virtually the only structure
still standing amid the rubble of the compound which used to be a key symbol
of his Palestinian Authority.
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- During the night, Israeli troops had already destroyed
an overhead walkway linking Arafat's office to an adjoining reception room.
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- A group of 19 Palestinians who were left isolated in
the annex surrendered, the army confirmed, adding that some 20 assault
rifles, grenades and makeshift bombs were found in their possession.
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- Palestinian sources said those detained included members
of Arafat's security services.
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- After occupying the building, Israeli tanks fired several
shells and raked the area around Arafat's office with machine-gun fire,
an AFP correspondent witnessed.
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- Illuminating the area with a powerful searchlight, the
Israelis called through a loudspeaker on those inside to give themselves
up.
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- Israeli cabinet secretary Gideon Saar declined to rule
out the army storming Arafat's office to capture around 20 security commanders
among those inside whom it accuses of links with militant groups.
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- "We don't discuss operational options and the way
in which our aims will be achieved," Saar told public radio when asked
explicitly about the possibility of troops being sent in to seize the commanders
accused by Israel of links with militant groups.
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- "The army knows very well what it has to do and
it will receive instructions from the political leadership as necessary.
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- "The aims are clear. They are first to isolate Arafat,
second to capture the wanted terrorists, and third to make (the Palestinians)
pay a price for the latest attacks," he said, in reference to back-to-back
suicide attacks which killed nine people, including the bombers, on Wednesday
and Thursday.
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- Israeli Arab MP Ahmed Tibi said Arafat had vowed to die
rather than surrender to the troops surrounding him.
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- In a phone call from his besieged headquarters, the Palestinian
leader insisted he was "prepared to die a martyr", as he did
the last time the Israeli army besieged his headquarters at the end of
March this year.
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- The foreign minister of the tiny Gulf state of Qatar,
one of the few Arab countries to maintain contacts with the Jewish state,
said Israeli officials had given assurances that they would not hurt Arafat.
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- "The Israelis have pledged that Yasser Arafat will
not be harmed," Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani told the
Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite television.
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- Hamad said he made contact with the Israeli authorities
after receiving a telephone call from Arafat on Friday.
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- "I held the necessary contacts and spoke directly
to the Israelis," said the minister, without elaborating on which
officials he dealt with.
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- Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer repeated that Israel
did not intend to expel Arafat or harm him, in a telephone conversation
with the Palestinian leader's number two, Abu Mazen, Israeli public radio
reported.
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- Israel only wanted to obtain the surrender of the wanted
men in Arafat's office, he said. The remainder had nothing to fear and
could leave the building freely.
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- Sheikh Hamad, whose country is the current chair of the
57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference, added he would pursue
efforts with the UN Security Council and the United States for the resumption
of negotiations.
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- But Washington delivered only the mildest of rebukes
to its Israeli ally for its new onslaught against the Palestinian leader,
whose ouster both want to see.
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- "Israel has a right to defend itself and to deal
with security," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
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- "But Israel also needs to bear in mind the consequences
of action and Israel's stake in the development of reforms in the Palestinian
institutions based on its progress."
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- Fleischer denied that the renewed turmoil in the Middle
East might undermined US President George W Bush's efforts to confront
Iraq, insisting: "The two are not related."
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- Of the permanent members of the UN Security Council,
only France and Russia spoke out against the Israeli retaliation, warning
it was likely to be "counterproductive" and obstruct US-backed
reforms of the Palestinian security services intended to wean them away
from alleged links to militants.
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