TEL AVIV (voa) – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reportedly says he would let Yasser Arafat leave his besieged Ramallah compound – if Mr. Arafat goes alone. Media reports from Israel say Mr. Sharon made the offer Friday in a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The reports say Mr. Sharon would let the Palestinian leader go anywhere he wants in the West Bank or Gaza Strip – but he would have to leave behind several militants wanted by Israel. Israel accuses the men of murdering the Israeli tourism minister, Rehavan Ze’evi, last October.
There has been no immediate Palestinian response to the offer. Thursday, a makeshift Palestinian court in Ramallah handed down jail sentences to four Palestinians it convicted for the killing. But Israel dismissed the move and demands the men and two others be handed over for trial.
Meanwhile, in Bethlehem, Mr. Arafat’s Fatah movement has called for a halt in talks to end the standoff at the Church of the Nativity. Fatah says the talks are a trap to exhaust Palestinians holed up inside the Christian holy site.
Friday, two Palestinians inside the church were wounded by Israeli sniper fire and evacuated for medical treatment. They were shot as four other Palestinian men, two of them in police uniform, left the besieged church and surrendered to Israeli forces.
At least 200 people, including armed Palestinians, have been under Israeli siege in the church for more than three weeks.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military says its forces have left the Palestinian town of Qalqilyah. Israel staged raids into Qalqilyah and three West Bank villages Friday, detaining 20 suspected Palestinian militants and killing a local militant leader, Raed Nazal. Mr. Nazal was on Israel’s wanted list for allegedly planning attacks against Israelis.
