Israeli police surrounded the French cultural centre in mostly Arab east Jerusalem on Thursday, apparently to detain the organiser of a Palestinian cultural event, a French diplomat said.

Around 50 people, including officials from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA), took part at an event at the centre in honour of Jerusalem's selection as the 2009 "capital of Arab culture" by UNESCO and the Arab League.

The cultural counsellor at the French consulate, Benoit Tadie, said police were looking for one of the Palestinian organisers of the event, who left the centre through a back door to avoid being arrested.

As police arrived at the scene, participants gave up plans to stage a demonstration outside the centre, but a few dozen people later took part in a protest at nearby Damascus Gate.

Israel bans all PA events in the Holy City, which it views as its "eternal, undivided" capital.

The French consul general, Frederic Desagneaux, arrived at the scene after the police showed up.

Israeli police did not immediately comment on the incident.

Israel seized east Jerusalem along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six Day war and then annexed the eastern sector of the city.

The Palestinians have demanded east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state, and the international community has never recognised Israel's claim to it. Foreign embassies in Israel are located in Tel Aviv.