RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 11 (AFP) - When late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat left his Ramallah headquarters on October 29 for treatment in Paris, it was the first time Israel had allowed him out of the West Bank in nearly three years.
Except for attending a few meetings in parliament and at key ministries, Arafat had been confined in the compound known as the Muqataa from early December 2001 when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared him an obstacle to peace.
The compound, a cluster of austere buildings that house Arafat's offices, the Palestinian military and security intelligence base and a prison, was raided three times by Israeli armor in 2002.
Each incursion followed deadly bombings that Israel claimed the veteran leader could have prevented, as the government decided to "isolate" Arafat and demanded the handover of wanted Palestinians hiding in the building.
On March 29, 2002 Israeli tanks rumbled into Ramallah and punched their way into the compound, kicking off a five-week siege, trapping Arafat in his offices without electricity or running water.
In May, Israel allowed him to pay a brief visit to the West Bank towns of Jenin and Bethlehem, before tanks again surrounded the Muqataa in June as bulldozers dug into the already battered compound for another two days.
The last incursion, which lasted for 10 days in September 2002, saw Israeli troops polish off the destruction, leaving only Arafat's living quarters and office still standing.
The siege prompted the UN Security Council to adopt Resolution 1435, which demanded that Israel lift the siege, by 14 votes to none. The United States abstained.
A year later, on September 11, 2003, the Israeli security cabinet agreed in principle to "remove" Arafat from his headquarters, holding him responsible for failing to prevent suicide attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv two days before.
Seven months later, Sharon sparked widespread international condemnation in April when he declared Arafat "a marked man" as other Israeli officials kept up their campaign of intimidation with further calls for his expulsion.
The Ramallah compound was built by the British as a military headquarters, a court and prison, during their 1923-1948 mandate of Palestine.
Covering an area of around three dunams (3,000 square metres), the site was later used as a base by Jordan during its administration of the West Bank.
After seizing the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war, the Israeli army took over the compound until the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994.
Arafat lived in the original building until 1996, when a new block was added to the compound and it swiftly turned into the Palestinian leader's official West Bank headquarters.
During the last three years, the only exercise the 75-year-old Palestinian leader got was walking up and down the corridors, his entourage said.
He rarely saw daylight expect when sunbathing away from reporters in well-guarded areas of the crumbling compound.
11/11/2004 05:48 GMT - AFP