Resigned Arafat awaits fate

By Ken Lee In Ramallah

Despite signals from the Israeli Government that an imminent, forcible "removal" of Yasser Arafat was unlikely after Saturday's Haifa suicide bombing, security was noticeably heightened at the Palestinian leader's half-demolished compound on Sunday.

For the first time in a number of visits there over the last 18 months, I was made to state my intentions to Palestinian security forces through a one-foot high peephole in a thick metal door, and subjected to a thorough baggage search.

A weary-looking Arafat condemned the Haifa bombing

But once inside the inner perimeter, an air of relaxed nervousness reigned among his security staff (outnumbered by about 40 journalists and peace activists) - a resignation to fatalism Palestinians have adopted while living under decades of Israeli military occupation.

Asked if any special defensive measures were being taken to protect the Palestinian leader from an Israeli raid, Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Rudeinah gestured towards a pile of rubble - the remnants of last year's siege by Israeli forces.

"Can't you see our F-16s and tanks parked over there?", he quipped.

One 10-year veteran of the presidential guard, who identified himself only as Nidal, 31, calmly pledged his loyalty to his leader:

Dozens of Israeli and foreign peace activists made a beeline for Ramallah after the Haifa attack, suspecting it could be the trigger for Israeli retaliation against the Palestinian leader. Suicide bombing in Haifa

"I'm ready to die to protect Arafat. I'm not scared, if I was, I'd be at home right now. If the Israelis enter here, we will fire on them. We have a plan, from room to room [in the compound], of how to respond."

In a second-floor conference room, a weary-looking Mr Arafat made a short statement about the Haifa bombing in halting English, flanked to his left by leading Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery.

"I condemn from my heart this terrible attack, this crime against civilians, against both Israelis and Arabs," he said in apparent reference to the four Arab Israelis killed in the Haifa seaside restaurant on Saturday.

His prime minister designate, Ahmed Qurei, appealed to the US and other member nations of the quartet which initiated the now-stalled roadmap for peace as well as the international community to pressure Israel to "deal with the current situation in a wise way to overcome difficulties and start the peace process again".

'Immense disaster'

On Saturday night, dozens of Israeli and foreign peace activists made a beeline for Ramallah after the Haifa attack, suspecting it could be the trigger for Israeli retaliation against the Palestinian leader.

Many stayed the night on mattresses and blankets in a meeting hall in the compound, with some, including Mr Avnery, saying they would use their bodies to physically thwart an operation against Mr Arafat.

Peace activist Evans-Tenbrinke is intent on sleeping at the compound

"Our main intention is to do everything we can to prevent the killing of Arafat," said Mr Avnery, 80, who insists he will sleep at the compound indefinitely.

"We believe it would be a disaster of historical proportions for Israel and the whole world. There would be immense bloodshed from those seeking revenge."

Others disagreed with the "human shield" label and intent.

"I'm not here to protect Arafat," said Henry Evans-Tenbrinke, 49, a health-care worker from Ontario, Canada.

"I came in solidarity with the Palestinian people. I will sleep here as long as it takes, to make sure there are no human rights violations or war crimes carried out."

Israel's security cabinet decided in principle to "remove" Mr Arafat last month, but did not say how or when, action would be taken - although arrest, isolation, deportation, or possibly killing him are said to be among the options.

The decision was in response to back-to-back Hamas suicide bombings that killed 15 on 10 September.