As the debate ensues between the U.S. and Israel as to whether or not Israel will capture, exile or kill Yasser Arafat, the credible Candian-based Middle East Newsline reported on Monday that the U.S. intervened to prevent the Israel Defence Forces from capturing and neutralizing the Muqata'a headquarters of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

Middle East News Line reported that the U.S. State Department issued a directive to Israel to suspend plans to capture Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah over the weekend, even though Israel provided hundreds of captured documents to the U.S. that prove that the Muqata'a is where the terror campaign against Israel is being planned and directed.

Despite that, Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to suspend military plans against the Muqat'a.

An Israeli military force had captured a PA ministry about 300 meters from Arafat's headquarters and established a command post for the capture of the Muqata'a.

The significance of such a planned tactical move on the part of the IDF is that the Muqata'a is precisely where Arafat's terror campaign has been coordinated for the last three years...