Four Die in Protests, Israel Cuts Power to Arafat
Israeli troops shot dead four Palestinian protesters on Sunday as thousands took to the streets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to demonstrate against the siege of Yasser Arafat's headquarters.

The protests, which erupted after midnight and resumed around midday, were the first sign of popular support for Arafat since troops besieged his West Bank headquarters on Thursday and prompted aides to suggest the army's blockade could backfire.

Tightening a siege begun after two suicide bombings killed several people in Israel, the army cut telephone lines and power to Arafat's shattered headquarters in the city of Ramallah as heavy machinery worked to demolish the buildings around him.

But buoyed by support from protestors, Arafat vowed never to surrender to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and refused to hand over 50 suspected militants who Israel says are holed up with him in his devastated presidential headquarters.

``We will hoist the flag of Palestine above the walls, churches and minarets of Jerusalem...May God make me a martyr,'' Arafat said defiantly in excerpts of a telephone conversation with an Israeli Arab lawmaker broadcast on Israel television.

Hatem Abdel Khader, a Palestinian aide who spoke to Arafat by telephone, said: ``He reiterated he will not kneel before Sharon and has issued an order to his men that no one may surrender from the building.''

Marching under pictures of the Palestinian leader and chanting ``We will give our soul and blood for Arafat,'' protesters poured onto streets after midnight. Some were armed.

Palestinian hospital officials said two protesters were shot dead overnight in Ramallah and two others were killed in the early hours of the morning in the northern West Bank.

The army confirmed only two of the deaths, and said its troops killed armed men and were responding to gunfire.

Palestinian hospital sources also said a soldier killed a teenager who defied curfew in the West Bank city of Nablus. The army had no information about the fifth reported death.

The bloodshed prompted new rallies in Gaza City and in Hebron, Tubas, Salfit and Bethlehem in the West Bank on Sunday.

Calling Arafat a ``symbol of peace and freedom,'' hundreds of people demonstrated in Bethlehem under posters of their leader. ``We are all under siege,'' they shouted.

In Tubas, thousands hailed Arafat by his nom de guerre, chanting: ``Go, go, Abu Ammar. We're behind you until liberation.''

Suggesting the siege could backfire by rallying support for Arafat among his disgruntled population, Palestinian Labour Minister Ghassan al-Khatib said: ``It is strengthening Arafat. It is giving (him) public sympathy and public credibility.''

Almost all the buildings in Arafat's presidential compound have now been demolished by armored bulldozers and he is at the mercy of the troops surrounding him.

…Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat expressed regret at the lack of international concern.

``All our contacts with the Israelis, Europeans and Americans have failed to produce any tangible results,'' he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-mideast.html