April 16, 2002	Tuesday	Safar 2, 1423

RAMALLAH: Yasser Arafat, a leader who has been accustomed to playing on the global stage, has seen his world reduced to two buildings in his West Bank compound, where offices are cramped with dozens of advisers and soldiers sleeping on the floor in shifts and hallways are rank with the odour of sweat.

The Palestinian leader has been besieged for 17 days with about 100 to 200 followers, including soldiers and armed security guards, administrative staff and a handful of journalists and medical personnel. Israeli snipers are less than 30 yards from the Palestinian gunmen who peer out of the building through dirty blinds.

Arafat and his troops have been captive in the offices since Israeli forces captured about 10 buildings in the hilltop compound, including Palestinian Authority ministries and military headquarters, shortly after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel ordered an invasion of West Bank cities.

The stone and concrete buildings are packed by gunfire, cratered and charred by tank shells and remain encircled by the Israeli armour that Sharon directed to “isolate” the Palestinian leader. The Palestinians continue to control Arafat’s administrative headquarters and reception hall, which are three stories high and connected by a hallway bridge. The Palestinians will not say exactly how many men are inside.

The front lines now cut across the driveway and small parking lot where countless motorcades, including the one Sunday that carried Secretary of State Colin Powell, have pulled up. Facing the stone steps where Arafat has so often received visiting dignitaries are Israeli troops arrayed behind coils of barbed wire. Two black Mercedes cars belonging to Arafat’s government, including his own, remain parked in the no-man’s land shrouded in dirt and battle debris.

A visit to the dingy but largely intact headquarters showed that conditions had barely improved, though the waning gunfire has given the captives easier nights of sleep.

Israeli forces cut off running water in the first hours of the attack but the Red Cross has delivered small amounts of bottled water for drinking every few days, the captive Palestinians said. Only on Saturday, when they were each given extra water, were they able to take showers.

The Red Cross has also supplied food, including bread, cheese and hummus, enough for one to two small meals a day, they said. Cigarettes are precious, matches rare and lighters among the most prized possessions.

Diarrhoea and stomach ailments are starting to spread, according to Zeid Abu Shawish, a surgeon and deputy director West Bank hospitals for the Palestinian Health Ministry.

At times Arafat walks downstairs from his office to mix with his men. Sometimes he frets about the tepid support he feels he is receiving from some other Arab governments, said a Palestinian.

But mostly, Arafat urges his men to stay strong. Don’t worry, he tells them. “Take care of yourself. Stay away from the windows.”—Dawn/The Washington Post News Service.