Posted on 04/02/2002 10:40:24 AM PST by codebreaker
Just posted the headline...nothing further
agreed - this is beyond insane now
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP)--Dozens of armed Palestinians - uniformed police and militiamen - shot their way into the Church of the Nativity on Tuesday, forcing priests to grant them sanctuary from Israeli troops encircling one of Christianity's holiest shrines, witnesses said.
The armed men rushed into the church, built over Jesus' traditional birth grotto, after several hours of intense battles with Israeli troops who fired machine guns from tanks and helicopter gunships flying above Manger Square.
Israeli forces took over Bethlehem early Tuesday, as part of a 5-day-old offensive aimed at crushing Palestinian militias that have carried out a spate of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. Tanks patrolled the city throughout the day, enforcing a strict curfew, as troops exchanged fire with roving bands of gunmen.
The heaviest fighting was reported outside the Church of the Nativity, and the bodies of four members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militia linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, were found about 50 yards (meters) from the church, near Manger Square, on Tuesday evening. Elsewhere, three Palestinian civilians were killed in the fighting.
Israel accused Palestinians of firing from inside the shrine and a nearby Roman Catholic convent, exploiting Israel 's jitters about inadvertently damaging religious sites. Col. Miri Eisen, an Israeli intelligence officer, said the army chief, Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, had issued orders to his troops to refrain from shooting at churches.
The gunmen insisted they were simply seeking sanctuary.
"First of all, most of the guys have run out of bullets and secondly, we're completely surrounded," said a Palestinian policeman in the church, who would only give his first name, Samir. "This is the only place that's safe for us to be."
After nightfall Tuesday, about 120 armed men were hiding in the church, said Marc Innaro, a correspondent for Italy's RAI TV, who was trapped in the compound by the fighting, along with five colleagues.
About 20 of the gunmen were wounded, and were being tended to by several nuns and priests, Samir said. The armed men were resting on the stone floor of the church or sitting in the pews, with little to do. "They've run out of cigarettes. There's no food either," Samir said in a telephone interview.
A Greek-Orthodox priest said clergymen asked the gunmen to leave, to no avail. "We told them it's forbidden to enter the church with weapons," said Father Elia Melinkovicz, a visiting priest from Yugoslavia.
Innaro, the Italian TV correspondent, said he was in the compound when the gunmen forced their way in. He said he and his colleagues were resting in an adjacent pilgrim's hostel when they heard bursts of gunfire, and were told later by priests that the gunmen had shot open a door leading into the church.
Father Ibrahim Faltas, a Roman Catholic priest in the compound, was evasive when asked about the forceful entry, saying only the gunmen didn't seek his permission.
The six journalists, five Italians and an Armenian from Jerusalem, were in Bethlehem on Tuesday and decided to head out when they were stopped by two Israeli armored vehicles, Innaro said.
The journalists sought shelter in the Church of the Nativity compound. Innaro denied claims by Israeli officials that he and his colleagues were being held against their will. "We are not hostages," Innaro said.
Gun battles also raged near the Santa Maria convent in downtown Bethlehem, run by the Salesians, a Roman Catholic order. Israeli government spokesman Arieh Mekel said several nuns were being kept against their will by Palestinian militiamen. Church officials couldn't be reached for comment on the allegations.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires 02-04-02
1937GMT
It would seem that way
Does anyone else get the unsettling feeling of Biblical prophesy about to be fulfilled in some horrible way?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.