France urges Israel to grant Arafat free movement. (Hat tip: zulubaby.)

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier Sunday urged Israel to restore Palestinian Authority chairman Yaser Arafat’s freedom of movement once he is treated, saying it “was not dignified” to keep the Palestinian leader under siege in Ramallah. …

Before he was rushed Friday for treatment in Paris, Arafat had been a virtual prisoner in his West Bank compound for nearly three years, kept there by Israeli threats, sieges and his own fears of being banished forever.

Barnier, speaking on France-Inter radio, welcomed Israeli assurances that Arafat will be allowed back if he recovers. “I even hope, to tell you my feelings frankly, that one day or another as soon as possible his freedom of movement will be restored,” he said.

The minister also defended France’s decision to treat the 75-year-old Palestinian leader, who has been sick for nearly three weeks. “Yasser Arafat is the legitimate head of the Palestinian Authority, of the Palestinian people,” said Barnier. “It is totally normal that he is being examined in our country and we welcome him.”

France has stepped into the breach for Arafat before - helping him get out of Lebanon in the 1980s as Israeli forces were closing in. Under both Socialist and conservative leaders, including current President Jacques Chirac, the country has been a firm supporter of the Palestinian cause.

But France, along with other European governments, has watched in frustration as the United States focused on Iraq rather than Israeli-Palestinian peace and as the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon refused to deal with Arafat.

While carefully avoiding declaring a preference between George W. Bush and John Kerry, Barnier expressed hope for “a more open attitude” from the White House following Tuesday’s presidential election.

“In the weeks and months to come, Americans, Europeans and Arab countries will need to act together to relaunch in the right direction the peace process,” the French minister said.