Home | China | World | Business Israeli Tanks Ordered to Withdraw From Arafat's Compound in Ramallah MON, FEB 25, 2002     Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer on Sunday afternoon ordered Israeli tanks to withdraw from the compound of Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Hours ahead of the decision, the Israeli security cabinet announced to allow Arafat to leave his compound, but not the city, in which he has been under virtual house arrest by the Israeli army for more than two months. If Arafat wants to move to other parts of the Palestinian territories, the cabinet claimed, he must require a special approval decided upon by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in consultation with Ben Eliezer. The cabinet's decision was passed after 12 of the 14 members of the security cabinet voted in favor of allowing Arafat to leave his compound and the other two, namely National Infrastructures Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Public Security Minister Uzi Landau,abstained on the vote. The security cabinet decision came after the PNA arrested suspects allegedly involved in the murder of former Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Ze'evi, who was shot dead in a hotel in Jerusalem last October by gunmen from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Ben Eliezer suggested on Thursday that Sharon lift the ban on Arafat, citing that it will help resume negotiations with the PNA. There was no excuse for Israel to continue the house arrest on Arafat because he has arrested, according to Israel's demands, the suspects, PFLP leader Ahmed Sa'adat, and the hatcher behind the Karine A weapon-smuggling affair, said Ben Eliezer. Editor:Zhong Source:Xinhua Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved