WASHINGTON, Sept 23: President Bush admonished Israel on Monday for laying siege to Yasser Arafat’s headquarters, saying that it had harmed the cause of peace in the Middle East.

“US officials have conveyed the president’s views to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

“Israel’s actions in and around the (Arafat compound) are not helpful in reducing terrorist violence or promoting Palestinian reforms,” he added.

Through two days of siege, the Bush administration had been virtually silent on the issue but on Sunday — the third day of continued Israeli battering of Arafat’s compound in Ramallah — White House spokeswoman Jeanne Mamo said the assault was not helpful.

But she blamed the Palestinians for the situation when she said suicide bombings had “greatly harmed” hopes for an independent Palestinian state.

The US administration had earlier promised to help create an independent state for the Palestinians but so far has done little to achieve this objective. Instead, in June President Bush supported the Israeli demand for Arafat’s ouster.