Forces enter Arafat's office

Israeli forces have stormed Yasser Arafat’s besieged three-story office building, a Palestinian Cabinet minister said today.

He said there were exchanges of fire between soldiers and Palestinian security guards but the report could not be confirmed independently.

The army would not say whether the troops were inside Arafat’s office in Ramallah but said they had not moved closer to the Palestinian leader in recent hours.

Arafat’s compound has been under Israeli control since Friday, with the exception of the office building where he and his aides have been holed up.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo and several Palestinian security officials said Israeli forces stormed Arafat’s office building this morning, and that several Palestinian guards were wounded in an exchange of fire.

Earlier today, Israeli officials said there was suspicion that several top fugitives, including the assassins of an Israeli Cabinet minister, were being sheltered by Arafat, but the government did not publicly demand their surrender.

‘‘We are not making any demands,’’ said Danny Seaman, director of the Government Press Office.

"We either take them (the wanted men) or we won’t.’’