At the urging of Yasser Arafat's top advisers, the Fatah al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades has banned the chief UN Mideast envoy from entering the Palestinian territories or meeting Palestinian officials, al-Aksa leaders said Friday. Arafat's office has already made it clear that Terje Roed-Larsen - long considered close to Arafat and sympathetic to the Palestinian cause - was no longer welcome in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A spokesman for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a group with ties to Arafat's ruling Fatah movement, said on condition of anonymity that Arafat aides asked the group to release a statement barring Roed-Larsen from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
But another Aqsa official, in a phone call to the Associated Press, denied his group was ordered by Arafat to release the statement. "The statement reflects our views," said Abu Amin, an Aqsa leader in the West Bank town of Jenin. "It has nothing to do with Yasser Arafat." Thursday's statement said Roed-Larsen is also forbidden to meet with Palestinian officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. Roed-Larsen could not immediately be reached for comment. |