RAMALLAH, Dec 23: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Sunday tried to enlist the backing of Pope John Paul in a Christmas showdown with Israel, as he vowed to defy an Israeli ban on him attending midnight mass in Bethlehem.

Israel, which blasted his helicopters in an air raid on Gaza City three weeks ago and then ringed his West Bank headquarters with tanks, said Arafat cannot make his traditional appearance at the Bethlehem service until he arrests the killers of a minister.

“No one can prevent me from reaching Bethlehem,” Arafat said while talking to reporters in Ramallah, where he has been under virtual house arrest since the Dec 3 raids blitzed his Gaza heliport.

The European Union urged Israel to rescind its ban of his leaving Ramallah, saying such a move “could contribute to the necessary relaunch of political dialogue in the Middle East”.

The Palestinian leader officially asked Israel to allow him to attend the midnight service in Bethlehem—AFP