Israel Ends Monthlong Arafat Siege

Israel’s siege of Yasser Arafat’s headquarters ended early today after tanks roared away as part of a deal allowing six Palestinian men wanted by Israel to be spirited off to a desert prison under American and British guard.

Hundreds of Palestinians converged on Arafat’s battered compound in the dead of night to celebrate his freedom. Looking at first enraged, and later tired, Arafat told The Times and other media that he was appreciative of the diplomatic breakthrough. But he said he was more immediately worried about midnight violence at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where a volatile standoff continued.

On the front steps of Arafat’s headquarters, dozens of uniformed policemen who had been holed up with the Palestinian Authority president waved AK-47s and flags, cheered and kissed friends they had not seen for a month. One wounded man was carried away on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance, flashing a V for victory to the applause of the surging crowd.

The end of the siege removes an explosive point of confrontation that has inflamed tensions here. But for Arafat, freedom is relative.

He emerges to a devastated political and physical landscape, his government and most of his territory in ruins and his international stature in question. In the short term, he has gained popularity among many Palestinians who sympathized with his suffering, which they likened to their own. He now has to perform once again as a leader.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sent tanks and troops to surround Arafat on March 29 following a wave of horrific suicide bombings that culminated with an attack on a hotel full of Jews celebrating the Passover Seder. Sharon declared Arafat an enemy of Israel and set about putting an end to his rule.

In addition to Ramallah, Israeli forces invaded nearly every Palestinian city in the West Bank, their biggest military operation in Palestinian territories since the lands were captured by Israel 35 years ago.

The impasse over Arafat’s confinement was resolved by a compromise proposed by President Bush. Israel had demanded custody of the six wanted Palestinians inside the compound, five of them involved in the assassination of a far-right Israeli Cabinet minister last year.

Under the deal, the six men will remain in Palestinian custody in Jericho. That custody, however, will be supervised by U.S. and British guards who will be stationed in Jericho. Israel has complained that when Palestinian officials arrest suspects, they quickly release them.

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said he hoped that the release of Arafat would eventually lead the two sides back to peace talks, and predicted worse violence if it did not.

Arafat had already been under virtual house arrest since December. But after the bloody month of March, Sharon tightened the noose. Tanks destroyed the outer walls of the Palestinian leader’s compound and troops invaded numerous buildings, searching room to room and, according to the Palestinians, setting up sniper positions in a building facing the place where Arafat slept.

In his first comments to the media early today, Arafat expressed his fury over events in Bethlehem. He banged the table, waved his hands in scolding fashion and bored his eyes into a questioner. Veteran Palestinian journalists said they had never seen him so angry.

He blamed the Israelis for a firefight and fiery explosions at the Church of the Nativity, which is traditionally held to be the birthplace of Jesus. He said the Israelis were terrorists, racists and Nazis for what he termed an attack on the church. Israel denies it attacked the church.

“How can the world keep silent to these ugly crimes?” Arafat said. “It is not important what happens to me. What’s important is what’s happening at the church.”

He abruptly cut short the news conference and stormed out.

Later, when meeting with The Times, he seemed calmer. He looked pale and exhausted and again returned to the problem of Bethlehem. “What is happening is a big crime,” he said.

Arafat had retreated to an upper-floor conference room with subdued lighting, where he greeted a steady parade of government ministers and other well-wishers. A young girl presented him with a box of chocolate Mars bars.

Sharon’s actions succeeded in isolating and weakening Arafat, but the isolation was not complete. Arafat, meanwhile, can point to having survived the showdown.

It was not yet clear where Arafat would go when he finally emerged later today from his shell-battered, dust-caked refuge.

“If he stays in the West Bank, he will have a lot of housecleaning to do,” said Ziyad Mousa, a lecturer at Bir Zeit University. Mousa and other residents earlier Wednesday had inched to within a few blocks of Arafat’s compound to try to catch a glimpse of the goings-on.

Mousa, like a growing number of Palestinians, said the time had come for Arafat to build a government that is less corrupt, hold elections and crack down on Islamic extremists. But he said Arafat will also have to continue to lead “resistance” to Israeli occupation while discouraging the suicide bombers, who have undermined the Palestinian cause.

Later, when the crowds were able to overrun the compound, they proclaimed victory. Especially in the siege’s early days, Palestinians at the complex and Israeli soldiers occasionally shot at each other across a pavement of several yards. At least two Palestinians and one Israeli were killed. But in the final weeks, the standoff had settled into monotony, with food and water in short supply and electricity sporadic.

Holed up inside the inner offices of the compound with Arafat were four men the Palestinians have convicted of killing far-right Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi, along with the man Israel accuses of ordering the assassination and the alleged mastermind behind an illegal arms-smuggling operation.

Sharon vowed that his army would not withdraw until the Palestinians handed the men over to Israel. After ignoring repeated U.S. demands to pull troops out of the West Bank areas he had reoccupied, Sharon eventually agreed to the compromise.

“We now expect to see Arafat translate his words into deed and to actively fight terror emanating from his own society,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Sofer said.

The transfer of the prisoners was carried out with a convoy of bulletproof American Suburbans and British Land Rovers, accompanied by Israeli armored cars. The convoy entered the compound just before dusk. About two hours later, the full complement of 18 vehicles streamed out.

The removal of the prisoners came after a long day of waiting and brinkmanship.

Israeli officials accused Arafat of reneging on the deal and of balking at tranferring two of the six men. Israel claimed he wanted to retain Ahmed Saadat, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Fuad Shubaki, the Palestinian Authority’s top financial officer and Arafat’s accountant.

But Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed-Rabbo denied that it was Arafat who was balking. Other Palestinian officials suggested that the delay was over details such as whether the prisoners would emerge handcuffed.

Throughout the day, residents occasionally ventured to a waiting area several blocks from the compound. Among those who arrived hoping for a glimpse of the prisoners was Saadat’s wife, Abla. She had not been able to speak to her husband since the Israeli invasion March 29.

“It is difficult to say how I feel.... We have no idea what the future will be now,” she said.

Saadat is accused of ordering the assassination of Zeevi, who was gunned down in an East Jerusalem hotel, in retaliation for Israel’s earlier assassination of the previous PFLP leader.