Israeli Pullback Ends 10-Day Siege of Arafat's Base
Flashing a V-for-victory sign and blowing kisses to a crowd of chanting supporters gathered amid the rubble, Mr. Arafat emerged from his sandbagged office building this afternoon to celebrate what his aides called a triumph over Mr. Sharon.

"The most important thing is that the Israelis failed to dictate to us," said Mr. Arafat's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh. "They wanted to finish President Arafat and to prove that he is irrelevant, and what happened was that he became stronger."

In a statement released shortly after the Israelis pulled back, Mr. Arafat called on Palestinians to observe a truce with Israel.

"We call on everyone to respect a complete cease-fire, as we have done in the past, and urge the Israeli government to do the same," the statement said.

There was no immediate response from the Israelis, who sent their forces into the compound on Sept. 19 and destroyed most of its buildings after back-to-back suicide bombings in Israel that killed seven people in addition to the bombers. Although the troops left Mr. Arafat's headquarters today, they kept their hold on the city of Ramallah, reimposing a curfew after nightfall.

President Bush expressed satisfaction after the pullout.

"The president welcomes this development," said a White House spokesman, Gordon Johndroe. "All parties need to live up to their responsibilities to promote peace, stability and reform in the Palestinian Authority."

Mr. Bush had criticized the siege of Mr. Arafat as "not helpful" to efforts to carry out the reforms. Israeli news media reported that Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, demanded an end to the siege in a meeting in Washington on Friday with Dov Weisglass, an aide to Mr. Sharon, asserting that it was hurting efforts to enlist backing for a campaign against Iraq. Mr. Bush reportedly sent a similar message directly to Mr. Sharon.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres criticized the siege at the cabinet meeting, asserting that it had hindered Palestinian reform, obstructed the American campaign against Iraq and unnecessarily humiliated the Palestinians, his aides said.

Several politicians from both the left and the right said that the siege was ill-conceived and had backfired, strengthening Mr. Arafat at a time when he was coming under internal pressure to relinquish power.

Israel had demanded that Mr. Arafat hand over 19 people in the compound whom it accused of involvement in terrorism, a number that officials later increased to 41. The officials that said Israeli troops were maintaining a presence in Ramallah to prevent the escape of the fugitives, but dozens of armed men left the compound after the Israeli pullback.

Speaking to reporters after the Israelis had withdrawn, Mr. Arafat rejected the idea of handing over anyone, and he called the pullback "an attempt to mislead public opinion," because troops remained in Ramallah. He said the Israelis had failed to comply with the United Nations resolution passed last week that demanded a speedy withdrawal from Palestinian cities along with an end to the siege.

"This is not withdrawal," he said. "This is only moving a few meters away. They are trying to deceive the world."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/30/international/middleeast/30MIDE.html