World Leaders Want Mideast Mediation

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

Following a Palestinian suicide attack that killed at least 22 Israelis, Israeli troops smashed their way into Arafat's West Bank compound, declaring him an enemy and triggering street gun battles. Hours later a Palestininan woman blew herself up in a supermarket, killing two.

"This military intervention must end. France insists that Israeli authorities respect the security and the physical integrity of Mr. Arafat," said 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 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."

He called for international intervention to halt the conflict, which he said threatened to spill beyond the region, Interfax news agency quoted reported.

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

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

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

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

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana spoke by telephone to 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," Solana's spokeswoman Cristina Gallach told Reuters.

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."

Vedrine told Radio France Internationale he empathized 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," Ahmed Maher said on his return from the Arab summit in Beirut.

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

The Yemeni news Agency Saba said Arafat had called 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."

Hundreds of Yemenis took to the streets after Friday prayers to protest against Israel's policies. Witnesses said the protesters chanted "No to normalization, no to occupation."

Arab summit host Lebanon denounced the Israeli action in Ramallah and accused the Jewish state of trying to topple the Palestinian leader and seize all Palestinian territory.

"Sharon wants to bring down the Palestinian Authority and reoccupy all the Arab lands," Information Minister Ghazi al-Aridi told Reuters.

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 U.N. Security Council and undertaking joint action with the United States, the United Nations and the European Union.

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 at least 22.

"We call on both sides to take a rational path. Particularly Israel, in order to display rational, forward-looking and constructive stances, needs to review many concepts and views it holds," Turkish state minister and government spokesman, Sukru Sina Gurel was quoted as saying by state news agency Anatolian.