Sunday, March 31, 2002

Inside Arafat's compound


Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters were built by the British as a prison complex in the 1920s.
Known as the Muqataa, the walled compound has always been used for military purposes - and has often held Palestinian detainees.
The compound has been used by the Palestinians since 1994
The Palestinians took control of it in 1994, a year after the Oslo peace accords, when it was transformed into the Ramallah governorate.
Mr Arafat had a new, residential block added in 1996 and he moved in, effectively making the Muqataa his official West Bank headquarters.
Also inside the compound - which is about 55 metres long on each side, or the size of a city block - is a helipad which was used frequently by Mr Arafat for trips outside the West Bank before he was confined to Ramallah.
Behind the high walls, the Palestinians also had a VIP guesthouse, prison, offices of three security services, sleeping quarters for guards, a large kitchen, a car repair shop where mechanics worked on Mr Arafat's armoured Mercedes and a large meeting hall.
Mr Arafat had a new building added to allow him to live there
All these buildings have now been destroyed with just Mr Arafat's office block still standing.



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