ISRAEL ENDS ARAFAT SIEGE JERUSALEM [MENL] -- Israel has agreed to a U.S. proposal to end the five-month-old siege on Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. The government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon accepted a proposal by President George Bush to allow Arafat to leave his Ramallah headquarters in return for the detention of six Palestinians wanted by Israel. Five of the Palestinians are suspected of being linked to the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi. By a vote of 17-8, the Sharon Cabinet agreed on Sunday that the six Palestinian fugitives would be placed in a PA jail in the Gaza Strip. They would be monitored by British and U.S. security personnel. Bush also invited Sharon to the White House next week for what Israeli officials termed would be strategic talks. The officials did not elaborate. Arafat's release was a key demand by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz. Abdullah met Bush last week at the president's ranch in Texas.

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