UK ready to help end Arafat siege

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain says it is ready to assist with a U.S. plan to end the siege of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah by the Israeli army.

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Both Arafat and the Israeli Cabinet approved the plan Sunday. Proposed by U.S. President Bush, it would involve U.S. or British monitors taking over guarding the Palestinians whom Israel wants to stand trial for last October's killing of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.

The suspects have been holed up inside Arafat's compound for more than a month.

The proposal to lift the month-long siege was said to have been outlined by Bush in telephone call on Saturday to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"As Tony Blair has often made clear, we are willing to assist," said a spokesman for the British Foreign Office. "If there is a satisfactory scheme, we are pleased to help."

The spokesman said there was no details available yet on the number of monitors or who exactly would make up the monitoring team.

It is thought the monitors would be civilians, such as retired police or military officers, rather than serving military personnel.

The plan is designed to ensure the suspects would be kept behind bars and to reassure the Israelis they would not simply be let out to commit further atrocities.

The six Palestinians include five men accused of involvement in Ze'evi's killing and one man accused of organizing a weapons shipment from seized by Israel in the Red Sea in January.

They have already been arrested by the Palestinian Authority and are being held in Arafat's offices to prevent them falling into Israeli hands.

Four of the men were convicted of Ze'evi's killing in a brief trial by Palestinian officials last week and received sentences ranging from one to 18 years. But this was not acceptable to Israel.

The Sharon government had insisted it wanted the men tried in Israel but appears to have agreed to the U.S. compromise.