"I'm telling him directly not to hide behind the Palestinian cause…Why is bin Laden talking about Palestine now?" Mr. Arafat said. "He never helped us. He was working in another, completely different area and against our interests."

Arafat Disavows bin Laden
Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, sought to distance himself unequivocally from Al Qaeda in an interview published today, warning Osama bin Laden to stop justifying attacks in the name of Palestinians.

"I'm telling him directly not to hide behind the Palestinian cause," Mr. Arafat was quoted as saying in The Sunday Times of London, referring to recent statements by Al Qaeda leaders.

"Why is bin Laden talking about Palestine now?" Mr. Arafat said. "He never helped us. He was working in another, completely different area and against our interests."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/16/international/middleeast/16MIDE.html