Sharon tries to destroy all traces of Arafat rule

Two monuments to destruction awaited Palestinians when Ramallah briefly came to life yesterday during the relaxation of the Israeli army curfew: the wrecked compound of Yasser Arafat, and the battle-ravaged headquarters of a powerful security commander.
The ruins provide compelling evidence that the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is not only pursuing a war against suicide bombers - as he claims - but wants to erase history: the eight-year interlude when Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority had some control over the West Bank and Gaza.

In tandem with the physical destruction of Mr Arafat's diminished realm - which included the ransacking of the Palestinian statistics bureau, the education ministry, and the ministry of local government in Ramallah as well as hospitals and office buildings - Israeli soldiers last night stormed the house of one of his most eloquent defenders, the Palestinian information minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo.