RAMALLAH, April 22: Yasser Arafat has expelled a group of 21 members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades from his West Bank headquarters, a leader of the militant faction said on Thursday.

"Yasser Arafat forced me and 20 of my comrades from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades to leave the Muqataa," Ali Barghuti, one of the leaders of the organisation in the West Bank, said.

Mr Arafat refused to comment directly on the allegation, telling reporters in Ramallah that "there is only one wanted man here. He was wounded during the last Israeli incursion", in Sept 2002. "If you want to see him, you can go inside" the Muqataa, he added without naming the man or confirming the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' claim.

Mr Barghuti branded the expulsion a crime, arguing the armed group is affiliated with Yasser Arafat's mainstream Fatah party. "Arafat has abandoned us. It's a crime, because we are above all members of Fatah and he should protect us," he said.

"He has also caved in to Israel, which has threatened to attack the Muqataa." The militants, who are all believed to be wanted by Israel, had taken refuge in Mr Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, known as the Muqataa, for more than three years. -AFP