May 8, 2002	Wednesday	Safar 24, 1423

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BETHLEHEM, May 7: A deal to end Israel’s siege of Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity was held up on Tuesday because no country has been found to accept the Palestinians inside, an Israeli army spokesman said.

Under the deal, it was agreed US officials would escort 13 of the Palestinians inside the church to Egypt and then to Italy. The other 26 would go to the Gaza Strip.

But Italy said it could not consider taking the Palestinians for the time being, complaining that it had been kept in the dark about a deal.

“The possibility of receiving Palestinian citizens in Italy has never been raised (officially) and therefore at the current state of affairs it cannot be considered,” an Italian foreign ministry statement said.

A source close to the negotiations said officials were still working on the Italy option.

In an attempt to resolve Italy’s objections to the deal, US Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. A senior State Department official said Powell “talked to Berlusconi this morning (Tuesday)”.

“The Church of Nativity situation was the immediate reason for the call because the Italians are involved.”

DISPUTE ON ARMS: Negotiators had, however, resolved a dispute on arms belonging to Palestinian security men, the latest sticking point in resolving the five-week-old standoff with Israeli troops.

The dispute centred on a demand by the security men for written assurances that any weapons turned over to the Israelis would be returned to them after they left the church.

“We have reached an understanding to resolve the Church of the Nativity crisis. The implementation is being delayed because no country is willing to accept the terrorists. We are waiting for progress,” Israeli army spokesman Olivier Rafowicz told reporters.

Palestinian police and other security force members are among the more than 100 people, including clerics and church workers, who have remained inside during the siege.

Scores of Palestinians sought refuge in the Church of the Nativity among more than 100 clerics, church workers and security men when Israeli tanks entered Bethlehem on April 2.

Israel had originally demanded that all of the Palestinians, thought to include members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups, surrender or be deported. Palestinian officials at first refused to consider sending them into exile.

Groups claiming responsibility for suicide attacks inside Israel have made clear their opposition to the deportation of their members in the church. Relatives of some wept as they kept vigil at Manger Square, saying the men should not be exiled.

OIC SUMMIT: The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) may hold a summit on the volatile situation in the Palestinian territories by the end of this month in Doha, a Palestinian diplomat said on Tuesday.

“The OIC summit could be held just after the Gulf Cooperation Council summit,” scheduled for mid-May in Saudi Arabia, said Tahsin al-Mikati, charge d’affaires at the Palestinian representation in Qatar. A meeting to prepare the summit would be held in Doha in the coming days, he added. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat this week renewed his request to Qatar to host a new meeting of the pan-Islamic group.—Agencies