BBC

Hamas leader escapes arrest

Gunmen from the Palestinian militant group Hamas have freed their leader after he was placed under house arrest by Palestinian security forces.

Hamas gunmen and security forces exchanged fire outside Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's Gaza City home before the security forces flee.

Sheikh Yassin, 62, who was placed under arrest on Wednesday evening, was then spirited away to an unknown location.

Hamas said it carried out the suicide bomb attacks in Israel at the weekend which killed 25 people.

Thousands of people came out onto the streets to demonstrate against Sheikh Yassin's arrest after a call from loudspeakers at a nearby mosque.

An attempt had also been made to arrest one of his bodyguards on Tuesday night, but that was foiled when a crowd from the neighbourhood clashed with police.

The arrest came after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called on Israel to give him some breathing space to crack down on militants in the Palestinian territories.

Israel suspended two days of heavy bombardment against the West Bank and Gaza, which had begun after a series of suicide attacks at the weekend.

Another suicide bomber struck in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning, killing himself and lightly injuring three Israelis.

The radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad said it carried out the attack outside a hotel in central Jerusalem.

The bomb came as both Hamas and Islamic Jihad both released statements pushing for a continuation of the intifada.

Plea for time

In a television interview on Wednesday, Mr Arafat asked Israel for more time to arrest militants.

"They have to cool down to give me the chance," Mr Arafat said in an interview with the ABC television.

He is also reported to have phoned Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres with the same request.

Mr Peres said he supported a pause in the Israeli strikes, but that Mr Arafat had to prove he was serious about clamping down on Islamic militants.

"I think the coming 12 hours should be a quiet period," Mr Peres said.

"He can restore credibility by making the necessary arrests of people who are really producing terror. I tried to impress on him that this will be the best step in order to achieve the ceasefire," Mr Peres said of Mr Arafat.

An Israeli defence ministry spokesman echoed Mr Peres's sentiment.

"We want to see what Arafat is doing, if he is taking seriously the demands of the whole world. But we will continue to fight terror," spokesman Yarden Vatikay said, the French news agency AFP reported.

No bolt

Wednesday's explosion - the third in Jerusalem in four days - occurred at 0735 local time (0535 GMT). It took place in a busy commercial area, but most office workers were still on their way to work when the explosion occurred.

Islamic Jihad said the bomber had "preferred, in the face of special circumstances, to blow himself up outside the hotel, causing numerous victims among the Zionists."

Defiance

Mr Arafat has urged all groups to stand by the ceasefire to which the Palestinians officially remain committed, despite the ongoing violence.

US President George W Bush has labelled Hamas, which claimed responsibility for the weekend round of suicide bombings, one of the deadliest terror organisations in the world today.

And he called on America's allies to bring terrorists to justice in order to achieve peace in the Middle East.

In comments that will be seen as providing more support for Mr Sharon, Mr Bush also called on Mr Arafat to "root out those who killed".

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2001