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Deal Set to End Nativity Church Siege
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Israel
would not confirm the deal to end the often-deadly standoff at
one of Christianity's holiest sites |
BETHLEHEM,
West Bank, May 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Palestinian
officials reported Monday, May 6, a deal to end the siege of the
Church of the Nativity, as far-right Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon arrived in Washington equipped with a 100-page intelligence
file that aims to sideline Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's
legitimate Authority.
A
senior Palestinian official said that under the accord, reached with
the help of U.S. and European mediators, six Palestinian resistance
activists trapped in the church for five weeks would be exiled,
probably to Italy, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Another
35 would be sent to Gaza for trial in Palestinian courts and the rest
of the more than 120 people still left in the basilica would be set
free, according to the official, who asked not to be named.
Those
sent to Gaza could be imprisoned under the watch of American and
British jailers in a deal similar to one brokered last week which
facilitated an end to Arafat's confinement.
However,
Israel would not confirm the deal to end the often-deadly standoff at
one of Christianity's holiest sites. An army spokeswoman only said:
"We are near an agreement. But it is not yet concluded."
Word of the deal came four days after Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat was freed from a month-long siege of his West Bank base in
Ramallah, under the terms of a U.S.-brokered deal.
It
also came as Sharon arrived in Washington on Sunday, May 5, for talks
with U.S. President George W. Bush on the next steps toward peace
after 19 months of Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation,
that claimed more than 2,000 lives, mostly Palestinian civilians.
Observers
believe one of Sharon’s visit aims is to improve Israel’s image,
badly damaged due to its latest deadly offensive on the Palestinian
territories, aggressions on the Palestinian people and war crimes
committed in the Jenin refugee camp. Hence, the timing of the reported
breakthrough in the Nativity Church siege.
The
senior Palestinian official said the six resistance fighters to be
exiled included five members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed
group linked to Arafat's Fatah movement, AFP reported.
Also
to be exiled is Abdallah Daud, chief of the Palestinians' secret
services in Bethlehem.
Three
Palestinian leaders have been designated to work with the Israeli army
in collecting arms and organizing the evacuation of the church, the
scene of sporadic but sometimes heavy gunfire, the official said.
U.S.
and European representatives would also be involved in implementing
the agreement to end the impasse at the church that marks the spot
where Jesus Christ was born.
Meanwhile,
the hawkish Sharon carried a 100-page intelligence file that aims to
prove Arafat's Palestinian Authority both financed and oversaw the
execution of a wave of martyr operations against Israel.
The
volume, complete with misspellings and referring to the European Union
as the "European Unity," suggests that E.U. as well as
American money funded Palestinian attacks on Israel and also claims
that one of the Palestinian officials working intimately with the CIA
for seven years is a leader of "terrorism," according to
British daily newspaper, The Independent.
The
arguments were set to receive a close hearing after White House
national security adviser Condoleezza Rice reported long-standing U.S.
concern over "potential ties between the terrorists and the
Palestinian Authority."
"The
Palestinian leadership that is there now, the Authority, is not the
kind of leadership that can lead to the Palestinian state that we
need," Rice said on Fox News Sunday.
Palestinians
voiced outrage at the remarks, with chief negotiator Saeb Erakat
saying Washington was asking them to cave in to the Israelis.
"This is unacceptable arrogance and interference," he said.
Trying
to look balanced, U.S. officials also had tough words for the
hard-line Sharon, who loathes the idea of jettisoning colonial
settlements in the Palestinian territories.
"I
think it's clear, both in the previous administration and in this
administration, that something has to be done with the problem of
settlements," Secretary of State Colin Powell told NBC.
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