Arafat is backed by most world leaders

World leaders threw their weight behind Palestinian President Yasser Arafat yesterday, calling for international action to quell…

World leaders threw their weight behind Palestinian President Yasser Arafat yesterday, calling for international action to quell escalating violence in the Middle East.

"This military intervention must end. France insists that Israeli authorities respect the security and the physical integrity of Mr Arafat," said Mr Francois Rivasseau, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry.

"We continue to plead for the Americans to commit themselves further. It is they who have the most means to reason with the opposing parties," he added.

Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Igor Ivanov, said Israel's announced intention to isolate Arafat "is not the way that could help find a political solution to the current situation".

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He called for international intervention to halt the conflict, which he said threatened to spill beyond the region.

The US withheld comment on the Israeli incursion into Mr Arafat's compound, saying it was "assessing appropriate responses to events in the region".

A State Department spokeswoman said US envoy, Gen Anthony Zinni, who has been trying to arrange a ceasefire to halt 18 months of bloodshed, would carry on with his mediation.

Moscow and Washington are the co-sponsors of the stalled Middle East peace process.

The EU reaffirmed that Mr Arafat remained a legitimate authority and its interlocutor for peace, while French Foreign Minister, Mr Hubert Vedrine, criticised Israel's "attempt to stifle Arafat".

EU foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, spoke by telephone to Mr Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to press for a ceasefire and urge both sides to seize the opportunity offered by an Arab summit's endorsement of Saudi peace proposals.

"Arafat remains our interlocutor and the legitimate authority," Mr Solana's spokeswoman Ms Cristina Gallach said. She said the EU considered Israel had a legitimate right to fight terrorism, but "military means are not going to solve the problem of terrorism".President Bush is following the latest upsurge "very closely" through frequent contact with top aides in Washington, the White House said.

"We are monitoring the events very closely and assessing appropriate responses," Mr Bush's spokesman, Mr Gordon Johndroe, told reporters here as the president spent a long Easter weekend on his ranch near Crawford, Texas.

Mr Vedrine told Radio France Internationale he empathised with Israel in the face of violent attacks, but added: "I don't think that massive repression and the attempt to stifle Arafat. . . can lead to a solution." Protesters demonstrated against the raids in Cairo, where the Egyptian foreign minister said the Israeli reprisals were a declaration of war.

"What [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon is doing is a foolish, illegal action and a message of war and aggression against Arabs in response to a message of peace from the Arabs," Mr Ahmed Maher said on his return from the Arab summit in Beirut.

Yemeni President, Mr Ali Abdullah Saleh, due to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday, cancelled the trip following the latest escalation in Ramallah.

The Yemeni news Agency Saba said Mr Arafat had called Mr Saleh from his headquarters and asked him to "exert efforts with the United States and the international community to interfere and cease the massacres that Israel is committing".

Elsewhere, China expressed "serious concern" and called for an immediate ceasefire on both sides.

The foreign ministry in Beijing called for "urgent action" by the international community to get both sides back to the negotiating table as soon as possible.

A Russian foreign ministry official said Moscow was contemplating a range of measures to quell the violence including raising the issue at the UN Security Council and undertaking joint action with the US, the UN and the EU.

Turkey, which has backed Palestinian aspirations to statehood while maintaining close diplomatic and military ties with Israel, said it was "deeply wounded" by the new violence and condemned the suicide bombing that killed 21.