Arab fury at 'foolish, illegal aggression'

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Palestinians took to the streets in protest and Arab politicians condemned Israel's attack on the compound of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, yesterday as its answer to their call for peace.

"Hours after the Arab peace initiative was issued from the Beirut summit, Israel replied with a barbaric war and a flagrant and brutal aggression," said a statement issued by the Lebanese President, General Emile Lahoud, the chair of the Arab summit. "Israel is a terrorist state that rejects peace."

The summit, which ended on Thursday, had endorsed a Saudi initiative offering Israel normal relations with other Arab states in exchange for a full withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 war.

Yesterday, Israel declared Mr Arafat an enemy and sent tanks and troops into his West Bank compound, in response to Palestinian attacks that killed 29 Israelis in three days. Israel said it would not harm Mr Arafat, but the raid is the closest Israeli forces have come to the Palestinian leader in 18 months.

Mr Arafat telephoned the Arab League's Secretary-General, Amr Moussa, to inform him of the "provocative" Israeli practices, a league statement said. Mr Moussa called the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan. Mr Annan told Mr Moussa that he will hold immediate talks with the UN Security Council head.

Ahmed Maher, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, said the attack had been "foolish, illegal and a message of war and aggression to the Arabs". Qatar, the chair of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, called for a Security Council session.

In Iraq, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, President Saddam Hussein's deputyat the Beirut gathering, said Israel's actions were "a Zionist reaction to the Arab unity in the summit". The Sudanese Foreign Minister, Mustapha Osman Ismail, said "Israeli barbarism" had surpassed the acts of Adolf Hitler.

In protest at Israel's attack, Palestinians burnt tires at the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp in south Lebanon. Shops and schools were closed as thousands took to the streets shouting anti-Israel slogans.