April 28, 2002	Sunday	Safar 14, 1423

TEL AVIV, April 27: Israel shrugged off on Saturday a US call to end its West Bank drive and vowed to press its hunt for Palestinian guerillas after a young girl and four other Israelis were shot dead at a Jewish settlement.

In Bethlehem, meanwhile, the chief Palestinian negotiator in talks to end the 26-day-old siege at the Church of the Nativity said he had received new instructions from Yasser Arafat but dismissed speculation a deal was imminent.

But the Israeli army said the two sides were set to meet on Sunday afternoon.

The Adora shooting drew an angry response from Israel, which has been under mounting pressure to end its month-old military sweep against Palestinian militants on the West Bank.

In Geneva, a UN fact-finding team prepared Saturday to descend on a reluctant Israel to look into nine days of vicious fighting and destruction at the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

Saudi paper: The United States is considering an eight-point proposal Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah presented to President George W. Bush for resolving the current spasm of Israeli-Palestinian violence, the White House said on Friday.

“The paper the Saudis presented the president had a whole series of ideas on it, many of which the president views (as ones) that we can make progress on,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.

The plan calls for an end to the Israeli siege of the West Bank town of Ramallah, deployment of an international peacekeeping force, reconstruction of damaged Palestinian areas, a renunciation of violence, a focus on talks toward a political settlement to Israeli-Palestinian issues, and an end to Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas.

It also calls for U.S. leadership in implementing United Nations resolution 242 calling for an Israeli withdrawal from lands seized in the 1967 Middle East war, in exchange for recognition of Israel’s borders.

The plan complements a Saudi peace initiative for normalizing relations with Israel that was adopted by Arab leaders in Beirut in March.

EXILE: A Palestinian teenager previously in Bethlehem’s besieged Nativity Church said on Saturday that gunmen inside were willing to be exiled to end a 24-day standoff with Israeli troops.

Fouad Lahaam said many of those trapped in the sanctuary had proposed that some of the 30 men wanted by Israel surrender and be deported, but only if Palestinian President Yasser Arafat approved this as a way to resolve the stalemate.

“There was a discussion among everyone. They all proposed that seven or eight of the men be deported so that the 200 others inside could be saved,” Lahaam, 19, told Reuters.

“The armed men were willing as long as the president agrees,” said Lahaam, who was allowed to leave the church this week along with eight other youths, when the bodies of two Palestinians shot dead by Israeli troops were evacuated.

Israel, engaged in stalled talks with Palestinian officials over the deadlock at one of Christianity’s holiest sites, has demanded that about 30 militants be handed over for