JERUSALEM - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat sought to unequivocally distance himself from the terror network al-Qaida in an interview published yesterday, warning Osama bin Laden to stop justifying attacks in the name of Palestinians.
"I'm telling him directly not to hide behind the Palestinian cause," Arafat was quoted as saying in The Sunday Times of London, referring to recent statements by al-Qaida leaders.
"Why is bin Laden talking about Palestine now?" Arafat said in the article. "He never helped us. He was working in another, completely different area and against our interests."
The comments, which appeared to be Arafat's strongest denunciation yet of bin Laden, come as attacks attributed to al-Qaida have been increasing and as the Israeli government has expressed suspicions that the group may be operating in the Gaza Strip.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Palestinian leaders who are worried about losing international support have parried attempts to link their fight against Israel with al-Qaida's cause. Israeli leaders, though, have sought to make the case that the attacks on Israelis and terror attacks elsewhere in the world are essentially the same.
Until recently, al-Qaida had only glancingly mentioned the Palestinian issue. But the group claimed responsibility for the si- multaneous attacks on Israelis in Kenya last month during which a bomb at a hotel killed 16 people, including three Israelis, and two missiles narrowly missed an Israeli charter jet. A statement about the attacks by an al-Qaida leader said, "Liberation of our holy places, led by Palestine, is our central issue."
In the Times article, Arafat is also quoted as dismissing as "lies" Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's assertions that al-Qaida is active in Gaza. On Saturday, Israeli officials repeated the accusation, saying the arrests in Jordan of two men accused of killing a U.S. diplomat there proved that al-Qaida had opened up a "second front" in moderate Arab countries. Jordanian officials say the two men admit to being al-Qaida members.
Also yesterday, Israeli officials confirmed their decision that Arafat would not be permitted to attend Christmas ceremonies in Bethlehem, traditionally considered the birthplace of Jesus. The decision angered Palestinian leaders.
"This is a continuation of the provocation policy that Sharon had always used," Yasser Abed Rabbo, the Palestinian information minister, said yesterday.