Violence precedes Powell's mideast visit

A Palestinian leader says his office in the West Bank has come under intense fire from Israeli troops following renewed clashes with Palestinian demonstrators.

The man, Mahmud Abbas Abu-Mazin, a deputy to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, accused Israel of targetting his office, on the outskirts of Ramallah, which he had left shortly before three bullets penetrated the windows.

There were also clashes after Friday prayers in Hebron and Bethlehem.

The renewed violence came on the eve of a visit to the Middle East by the American Secretary of State, Colin Powell.

Mr Powell was due to have been welcomed to Israel by the foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, but the short meeting has been cancelled at the request of Mr Ben-Ami. Since the violence erupted five months ago, more than four-hundred people have been killed, the majority of them Palestinians.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service