Israeli Troops Close to Arafat Headquarters
Israeli forces took up positions in buildings near Yasir Arafat's compound in Ramallah today, two days after they complied with American demands and lifted a 10-day siege there.

Palestinian officials said the Israelis had not ended the siege, which began after a suicide bomber killed six Israelis in Tel Aviv on Sept. 19.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, an adviser to Mr. Arafat, said it remained dangerous for the Palestinian leader and others to leave or enter the compound. "They are deceiving the Americans," he said of the Israelis.

The Bush administration criticized the siege in Ramallah, in the West Bank, as undermining an internal Palestinian drive for democratic change and interfering with American efforts to build support for a possible war on Iraq. The United Nations Security Council also demanded an end to the siege.

Mr. Arafat met today with his cabinet, which in theory is serving on borrowed time. Under pressure from the Palestinian Legislative Council as part of a reform drive, the cabinet ministers resigned in September. Palestinian officials said that Mr. Arafat would request more time to replace the ministers, but that efforts at reform would nevertheless move forward.

Perhaps to allay the Bush administration's concerns and domestic criticism of the siege, Israeli officials appeared today to be eager to suggest that matters were settling down.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/02/international/02MIDE.html