Posted on 05/06/2002 10:06:24 AM PDT by Semper Paratus
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat was witholding approval of an agreement Monday to end the armed standoff between IDF soldiers and Palestinians at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, CNN reported.
According to the report, sources familiar with the talks said that Arafat was adamantly opposed to exiling more than six "senior terrorists" to a European country.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said earlier in the day that a deal to end the nearly five-week standoff was close, but he declined to say when it would come.
"It's near. We need one or two little problems solved," he told reporters who approached him after an event at the State Department to ask about reports that negotiators were close to a deal ending a five-week standoff at the church.
Asked if the deal, which is expected to send some Palestinian gunmen to the Gaza Strip and others into exile in Italy, would come Monday, Powell replied, "I don't want to say that. It's closer."
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said Monday afternoon that the standoff at the church was to end in 'the coming hours.'
The defense minister, speaking to the Knesset's Labor faction, said that most of those holed up inside the church would be allowed to go free, a few would be sent to the Gaza Strip and a small number would be deported.
The Palestinians want no more than eight of those in the church sent into exile in Italy, while Israel reportedly insists that at least a dozen be deported, The Associated Press reported. Another 30 Palestinian militiamen would be sent to Gaza, according to the Palestinians.
Palestinian officials said early Monday that a deal had been struck with Israel to end the month-long standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Israeli sources said, however, that there had been progress in talks, but no final agreement had been reached.
At midday Monday, Israel Radio quoted senior Fatah activist Ibrahim Abayat as saying that a solution to the standoff would be achieved within hours.
Five of the six candidates for deportation to Italy were Fatah men, and the sixth was a Hamas member.
The gunmen fled into the church, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, a little over a month ago, at the start of Operation Defensive Shield. IDF troops have surrounded the church since then, demanding that the militants give themselves up.
Surprise .. Surprise ... Arafat is stalling
Speaking of reversed logic,have you considered if the opposite had happened and armed IDF gunmen sought refuge in the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple mount. The world press would have went nuts over those gunmen taking refuge in the Moslem Holy sight, alleged to have been the place where Mohhamed ascended into heaven ( hey I can use the words "alleged" since they do that about Jesus birthplace). The whole Arab world would have gone nuts. But I was awestruck by the lack of outrage for this atrocity by the world Christian community. I for one am tired of the mantra that Christians and Jews are bad, Moslems are a people of peace.
Speaking of reversed logic,have you considered if the opposite had happened and armed IDF gunmen sought refuge in the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple mount. The world press would have went nuts over those gunmen taking refuge in the Moslem Holy sight, alleged to have been the place where Mohhamed ascended into heaven ( hey I can use the words "alleged" since they do that about Jesus birthplace). The whole Arab world would have gone nuts. But I was awestruck by the lack of outrage for this atrocity by the world Christian community. I for one am tired of the mantra that Christians and Jews are bad, Moslems are a people of peace.
How true, and the purpose of letting him out was to show the rest of the world.
One thing that does not change! He is a
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