Yasser Arafat went free today, and was greeted joyfully by a large crowd of residents of the Palestinian autonomous areas. IDF troops withdrew totally from Ramallah last night, including from around Arafat’s Mukata compound. Troops remain stationed in buffer zones around the city. Immediately before the IDF withdrawal, a convoy of American and British vehicles arrived in the compound to transport the most wanted Palestinian terrorists to a PA jail in Jericho. They included the four Arabs involved in the murder of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi last October; Fuad Shubaki, mastermind of the Karin-A arms smuggling operation; and Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmed Saadat. Arabs in Jericho took to the streets in celebration when the motorcade carrying the terrorists arrived.
Under a deal brokered by the US government, the prisoners will remain in the Jericho prison under the eye of American and British wardens. Palestinian sources later claimed that Shubaki and Saadat are being held separately from the others, under the supervision of PA guards. The British wardens are unarmed, do not have keys to the prisoners\' cells, and are essentially there only to ensure that the prisoners have not escaped.
Arafat toured Ramallah today, and is expected to visit Bethlehem and Jenin in the coming days. If he leaves the country, President Moshe Katzav said today, there is no guarantee that he will be permitted to return, especially if there are terrorist attacks during his trip. Katzav said that this position is based on talks he had with Prime Minister Sharon.
Under a deal brokered by the US government, the prisoners will remain in the Jericho prison under the eye of American and British wardens. Palestinian sources later claimed that Shubaki and Saadat are being held separately from the others, under the supervision of PA guards. The British wardens are unarmed, do not have keys to the prisoners\' cells, and are essentially there only to ensure that the prisoners have not escaped.
Arafat toured Ramallah today, and is expected to visit Bethlehem and Jenin in the coming days. If he leaves the country, President Moshe Katzav said today, there is no guarantee that he will be permitted to return, especially if there are terrorist attacks during his trip. Katzav said that this position is based on talks he had with Prime Minister Sharon.