RAMALLAH Ñ Israel and the Palestinians have issued contradictory
claims regarding the situation of Yasser Arafat.
Palestinian Authority officials said Israeli troops have burst into
Arafat's compound of offices in Ramallah, Middle East Newsline reported. The officials said Israeli and
Palestinian troops fought outside the door of the chairman's inner office on
Sunday.
They said two of Arafat's bodyguards were injured and Israeli soldiers
threw tear gas in a nearby dining room. PA Cabinet secretary Ahmed Abdul
Rahman said that outside contact with Arafat has been severed since 11:30
a.m. local time [0330 hours EST].
Israeli military sources said troops have not entered Arafat's office
and maintain that he is not a target. But they said Arafat is being pressed
to surrender several Palestinians being harbored in the chairman's compound.
This includes Fuad Shubaki, said to have engineered the purchase of an
Iranian ship full of weapons that was captured in January in the Red Sea.