Bin Laden not fighting for Palestine, says Arafat

YASSER ARAFAT told Osama bin Laden yesterdayto stop claiming he was fighting for the Palestinians and dismissed Israeli charges that al-Qaida is active in the Palestinian territories.

"Why is bin Laden talking about Palestine now?" the Palestinian president was quoted as saying in an interview with Britain's Sunday Times.

"He never helped us. He was working in a completely different area and against our interests."