Palestinian police arrested three men today who are suspects in the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Mr Rehavam Zeevi, a senior Palestinian official said.
Israel has made the arrest of Mr Zeevi's killers a condition for ending the confinement of Palestinian President Mr Yasser Arafat to his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah, where he has been penned in for two months by Israeli tanks.
But a spokesman for Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon said the Israeli authorities would take no action to ease Mr Arafat's confinement until the men faced trial or were handed over to them.
Mr Talal Dweikat, the Palestinian military intelligence chief in Nablus, said the three had been arrested at dawn in a hiding place in the West Bank city.
They included Mr Hamdi Koran and Mr Basel al-Asmar, who are accused by Israel of direct involvement in Mr Zeevi's killing in a Jerusalem hotel last October. The third man arrested, Mr Ahed Abu Ghulmya, was described as a helper.
All were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
PFLP official Mr Ali Jaradat confirmed the arrests. "The Palestinian Authority caved in to Israeli and American dictates at a time when Sharon carries out massacres against us, especially in the past week," he said.