Arafat Meets Palestinian Negotiators to End Church Standoff

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, April 27, 2002

Arafat Meets Palestinian Negotiators to End Church Standoff

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Confined Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met Saturday with Palestinian negotiators headed by law- maker Salah Ta'mari in a bid to end the 25-day standoff in the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

At least 200 Palestinians, most of them gunmen, took refuge in the church after the Israeli army tanks rolled into the holy town on April 2.

Palestinian officials and high-ranking Israeli military officers started talks last week. However, the standoff continues as the two sides failed to reach an agreement.

The aim of the meeting between Palestinian negotiators and Arafat in his besieged headquarters in Ramallah is to brief him on ideas proposed by both sides to end the standoff.

One of the ideas is to deport about 24 militants who are involved in carrying out armed attacks against Israel, and the rest would be brought into the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian negotiators have informed their Israeli counterparts that they cannot decide until they discuss the Israeli proposals with their leader.

Palestinian sources expected that Arafat would accept the ideas.

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