Bush urges Sharon to end Arafat siege

US President George Bush has sent a message to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urging him to end the siege at the headquarters of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

A US official has confirmed the substance of a Washington Post report that a message was delivered on behalf of Mr Bush by the US ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer.

The Washington Post said that message was followed by calls to Mr Sharon from the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and the Secretary of State, Colin Powell.

The newspaper reported an unnamed "western diplomat" who said that the US administration was concerned Israel's defiance of a UN Security Council resolution on the siege would pose problems for the US as it tried to attack Saddam Hussein over UN resolutions on weapons.

"The Israelis know that [Iraq] is the big game in town," the diplomat told the newspaper.

"This has hurt us, no question about it," he said. "You had a Security Council debate on this issue [the Ramallah siege]. Now, four days after that resolution, you don't have any compliance. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out the connection."

The siege at Arafat's compound began on 19 September after a suicide bus bombing in Tel Aviv killed six.

However, the unnamed US official later denied any link between Bush's message to encourage peace and the situation in Iraq.

The official refused to disclose details of the Mr Bush's message, saying only: "The President believes that recent events in and around Ramallah are not helpful toward bringing peace to the region."

The Washington Post reported "diplomats and others" saying the Bush administration had told Mr Sharon that continuing to blockade Mr Arafat, in the last building standing at his headquarters was directly affecting the Iraq policy.

But the US official said: "The President has said repeatedly that he seeks peace in the Middle East for its own sake, not for any other diplomatic effort or policy."

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Mr Sharon seemed unmoved, insisting there was "no connection between the Palestinian problem and the need to deal with Iraq".

Mr Sharon described the clash with the US as a "disagreement" among friends and accused Palestinians of trying to "blackmail" Washington by linking the two.