4 Killed as Palestinians Demonstrate to Back Arafat
The army said its goal was to arrest first 17, then 20, then 50 men inside with Mr. Arafat. But military and political leaders made it clear that their real intention was to make Mr. Arafat's conditions so stifling that he would finally ask to leave.

In an earlier siege, from March through May, Mr. Arafat seemed only to gather personal and political strength from the danger. This time, again, he has shown no sign of succumbing, or surrendering the men.

Akiva Eldar, a reporter for the newspaper Haaretz, wrote today that the operation prevented efforts by the central committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization to hold a special session to persuade Mr. Arafat to appoint Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, as prime minister. Mr. Abbas, a long-term leader of the P.L.O. and a moderate, has emerged as the Palestinians' consensus candidate.

Mr. Eldar wrote that the P.L.O. had also planned to discuss political reforms and ways to block Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the militant wing of Fatah, from staging any more attacks. The article said Israeli leaders were aware of the plan, because they had been asked to allow P.L.O. leaders to convene in Ramallah.

The dominant group within the P.L.O., of which Mr. Arafat is chairman, is his Fatah movement. Fatah led the rebellion against him in the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Haim Ramon, a member of the Labor Party, assailed the operation. "I would be prepared to support what's happening if I knew what was the goal of the government," he said. "If the goal is to get rid of Arafat, let it get rid of him. But if the goal is for the government to release its anger in view of its failure to fight terror despite what is happening, the strike should be at those responsible for the recent terror attacks."

Palestinian reformers expressed dismay. "This operation kills the first historical step" by the council, said Abdul Jawad Saleh, a member. He was referring to its meeting Sept. 9 to 11, in which the members assailed Mr. Arafat's leadership and compelled him to fire his cabinet.

"Arafat was to name a new government, but this operation has prevented him from doing it," Mr. Saleh said. "It is part of a systematic destruction of the Palestinian entity, the Palestinian infrastructure, the Palestinian political system, the Palestinian economy, the destruction of everything Palestinian."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/23/international/middleeast/23MIDE.html