JERUSALEM — Bowing to American pressure, Israeli military forces withdrew Sunday from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s ruined headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, but tanks and troops remained close, to keep watch on a number of suspected terrorists inside.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said “the president welcomes this development” and called on Israel and Arafat “to live up to their responsibilities to promote peace, stability and reform in the Palestinian Authority.”
Administration officials had pressured Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to stop his assault on Arafat, launched on Sept. 19 in response to two suicide bombings in Israel that killed seven and injured dozens more.
Israeli troops in tanks and bulldozers virtually demolished the sprawling, one-block compound, leaving only one building in which Arafat and about 200 Palestinians were confined.
Besides wanting to force out dozens of suspected terrorists Israeli officials insist are inside with Arafat, Sharon had hoped the demolition would make it so uncomfortable for the Palestinian leader that he would leave the West Bank altogether. Sharon and other hawkish government leaders have repeatedly expressed a desire to expel Arafat from the region because they believe him to be the main force behind continued terror attacks on Israelis.
But mounting pressure from the Americans forced Sharon to capitulate. At a Sunday morning meeting of senior Israeli cabinet officials, Sharon agreed to end the siege on the day that coincidentally marked the second anniversary of the current Palestinian uprising.
Arafat and other Palestinian officials later complained the Israeli withdrawal was incomplete, with soldiers still roaming Ramallah in armored vehicles and stopping anyone who left Arafat’s compound to ensure they were not on Israel’s list of wanted Palestinians. A curfew was imposed on Palestinians as dusk fell.
© 2002, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.