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One of 13 Palestinian terrorists wanted for the murder of Israeli soldiers is portrayed in a sympathetic article in The Irish Independent as "homeless for five months" and "regularly sleep[ing] in a park." The man, Jihad Jara, is one of 13 terrorists whom Israel allowed to find refuge in European countries in a deal to end the long-running siege at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity 11 months ago. Another terrorist who came to Ireland with him, Rami Kamel, married an Irish woman, while Jara has not quite 'found his place.' The Independent reports that three other terrorists who were exiled...

Nov. 25, 2002 Remaining exiled Palestinian leaves Cyprus for Mauritania(UPDATE) By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NICOSIA, Cyprus - The last of a dozen Palestinians exiled to Cyprus in May to end a monthlong siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity was escorted Monday to Mauritania after months of searching for a willing host. Abdullah Daoud, 41, was sent to Mauritania because it was the only Arabic-speaking country willing to take him in, his wife, Kifah, said from her home in the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus. She said she had spoken with her husband by telephone...

The three Palestinians granted exile in Italy after the Israeli army siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity risk cracking under the strain of being so closely monitored, one of them told La Reppublica on Monday. "When we arrived in Italy I asked the head of the Italian security service responsible for us not to track us too closely. I told him, “at least give us some personal space and autonomy or we could just explode”, Khaled Abu Nejmeh told the daily. "We are all very tired. For the last two months we've being going from one siege to another,...

Palestinians at Nativity Church Demand Meeting With ArafatBy T. CHRISTIAN MILLER, Times Staff Writer BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Negotiations toward a peaceful end to the three-week siege at the Church of the Nativity hit a stumbling block late Thursday as encircled Palestinians demanded a meeting with their equally besieged leader, Yasser Arafat. It was unclear whether the Israelis would permit such a meeting. However, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon indicated that he might loosen restrictions on the Palestinian leader, who is trapped by Israeli forces in his compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "We hope we will get a...