Israeli troops completed Wednesday night a withdrawl from Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah, as six Palestinians wanted by Israel arrived in a convoy at a prison in the West Bank city of Jericho.
Arafat was expected to remain inside his offices until the Israelis had finished leaving Ramallah early Thursday, and was likely to stay in the Palestinian territories for at least the next few days.
"His plans are still that he's going to stay in his headquarters," Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Arafat's spokesman, told CNN. Arafat will begin traveling abroad, but first wants to focus on the ongoing crises in the West Bank, Abu Rudeineh said.
A dozen U.S. and British armored vehicles pulled into Arafat's compound around sundown Wednesday to pick up the six wanted men - one in a wheelchair and three in handcuffs. Led by three Israeli security jeeps, the vehicles traveled in single file as they left the complex.
An hour later, Palestinians lining the street in front of the jail clapped and whistled as the six men arrived at the jail in Jericho.
At the same time, some Israeli trucks and armored personnel carriers began pulling out of Arafat's compound, part of a planned withdrawal from the entire city that was expected to take about two to six hours, according to Israeli military officials.
Earlier in the day it was reported that the Palestinians had agreed to a detailed plan for transferring the men from Ramallah to Jericho, paving the way for Arafat's release from Israel's month-long siege around his headquarters in the West Bank.
Arafat held talks Wednesday with U.S and British envoys to finalize the U.S.-brokered plan according to which the killers of former tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi would be transferred to a Jericho jail, as well as PA finance official Fuad Shubeiki, suspected of being behind the Karine A weapons ship.
An Israeli security source said after the transfer of the prisoners that "Arafat is free to go wherever he wants - within the (West Bank and Gaza) or even abroad." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
