The Israeli and United States governments refuse to deal with the Palestinian leader, Yasir Arafat, who remains overwhelmingly popular, even stuck inside his battered compound in Ramallah.

He had earlier met Mr. Arafat for more than two hours in his battered compound in Ramallah, where the Palestinian has been under siege for 20 days.

But after several weeks he came back, and until recently he was a fixture at Mr. Arafat's side in his battered compound in Ramallah.

Mr. Blair briefly visited Mr. Arafat's gravesite in the battered compound where the Palestinian leader was confined for the final three years of his life.

Israel has confined him to his battered compound in Ramallah for more than two years, while the United States and some European nations have stopped sending diplomats to visit.

Within hours of the bombing, 10 tanks and several armored vehicles rolled into the Palestinian leader's badly battered compound, encountering no resistance.

The visit by Secretary Powell in a heavily armed and armored motorcade gave outsiders a rare look inside the battered compound.

The other view was aft, into the battered compound the Bolo had tried to defend.

The battered compound that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell visited yesterday is like a little walled village on the eastern edge of the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

Last week misfortune struck Mr. Serajuddin again, when six helicopters arrived with commandos who smashed their way through steel gates into his battered compound.