AL KHALIL, Feb 8: A team of European observers on Wednesday pulled out of the West Bank city of Al Khalil (Hebron) after its offices were attacked in riots against the sacrilegious cartoons, a spokeswoman said.

“We are going to leave temporarily,” Gunhild Forselv, spokeswoman for the Temporary International Presence in the City of Hebron (TIPH), said, adding the observers would stay in Israel and no date had been set for their return.

“Our superiors must evaluate the situation and decide accordingly,” she said.

The head of the mission, Arnstein Overkil, told journalists that the team would not return until they were satisfied that the security situation in the Palestinian town had improved.

The 60 or so observers were seen leaving in a 12-car convoy toward Tel Aviv.

The decision to quit the main southern West Bank city came after around 100 demonstrators hurled stones and bottles at the offices, smashing a number of windows.

Ms Forselv said that none of the monitors had been wounded in the disturbances.

The demonstrators at one stage managed to break into the compound where they smashed the windscreens and caused other damage to TIPH vehicles.

Although they were dispersed from the compound by Palestinian police, the protestors then set fire to tyres outside. —AFP