Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat made his first appearance Sunday after Israel eased its 10-day siege on his compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian sources said.
The smiling senior leader, surrounded by his bodyguards, showed up for a short time to the cheering crowds of Palestinians waiting outside the office building.
Still in high spirits, Arafat flashed V signs for victory and blew kisses to everyone greeting him, despite reports about his being weak after days of confinement.
Arafat returned to his office building after the triumphant appearance.
He wasted no time in decrying Israel's ploy to sidestep the implementation of UN Resolution 1435, which, adopted Tuesday, callsfor an end to both the siege on Arafat and the reoccupation of Palestinian lands since two years ago.
"They haven't withdrawn," Arafat declared to reporters at his office in reference to the Israeli pullback from his devastated compound earlier in the day.
He said Israeli tanks are still stationed meters away from his headquarters, which "is not implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1435."
The Palestinian leader pressed ahead with demand that Israel comply fully with the UN resolution by completing withdrawal from his compound, the West Bank city of Ramallah and all the Palestinian territories recaptured by Israel since the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, broke out on Sept. 28, 2000.
(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2002)
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