— The most important piece of news from the Middle East in a long time is discussed on Rantburg:
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Cabinet on Sunday approved a U.S. proposal aimed at ending the month-old siege outside Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s compound in Ramallah. The U.S. plan calls for U.S. and British personnel to guard six Palestinians wanted by Israel, and in turn Arafat would be allowed to leave his compound and move freely in the Palestinian areas of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
It looks to me like a step toward de-escalation of the conflict, but Fred’s got a different take.