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CNN Live At Daybreak

Israelis and Palestinians Discussing How to End Desperate Standoff in Church of Nativity

Aired April 23, 2002 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to go live now to the Middle East for the latest on those negotiations. Our Jerrold Kessel joins us live from Jerusalem.

Jerrold, are the negotiations still ongoing?

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have begun, Carol, indeed.

And that bleak situation in the Church of the Nativity, one of the holiest places for the Christian world, where more than 200 Palestinians, many of them armed, many on Israel's wanted list, have taken up refuge or taken up positions, if you like, three weeks ago now. And continuing that standoff, with the Israelis laying siege to the church. And this morning, in one of the courtyards of one of the complex buildings in that Church of the Nativity complex, there appeared a large placard saying, "Please help."

Now that was apparently made by Armenian priests there. And later in the morning, three of the Armenian priests managed to get out of the complex, went away. They're now being talked to by the Israeli authorities. We don't know if that's the message they had in mind when they said, "Please help," or the reference to these negotiations.

The first time that the Israelis and Palestinians have been talking face to face about how to end this desperate standoff with the church in more than two weeks. And the talks now underway. But the man who was partly responsible for bringing the two sides together, the Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy, to whom we spoke this morning, was only guardedly optimistic, and he said it was too early to say that this represented a real breakthrough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANON ANDREW WHITE SPECIAL REP. FOR THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: There has been positive international pressure, and we know that there is an increasing awareness of how serious this situation is. And, therefore, yesterday, Chairman Arafat agreed that negotiations should begin even without his previous preset conditions. And his negotiators who he has chosen should be able to sit down immediately with Israeli opposite (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP) KESSEL: And those negotiations underway now. As I say, the first time in two weeks. We know there was an offer from the Israeli side on the table for the gunmen to come out, all going to exile or give themselves to -- give themselves up to Israel. The others to go free. And, of course, that to relieve the siege on the 30 or so priests and nuns.

But that was not accepted by the Palestinian side. Now we shall see if there is any further progress on those negotiations. New offers on the table. We'll be watching these developments through the day with the faint hope that perhaps there could be a breakthrough in this vital standoff at the Church of the Nativity -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I know you're playing close attention to what else is happening in the rest of Israel. Is there any more fighting in the region?

KESSEL: Well there has been an action last night in the town of Hebron. Now that's one of the Palestinian towns in the West Bank to which the Israelis did not turn their full military might as they went in and conducted the search for terror of the last month.

But last night helicopter gun ships of the Israeli Air Force in a missile attack on a car. They said the target was -- and it was later confirmed to have been -- one of the leading militias of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which have claimed responsibility for many of the most devastating terror attacks in Israel. He was in the car, along with one of his top aides. Both were killed.

And then this morning, in what seems to have been a revenge action, three Palestinians who were found dead, having been shot as they were bound, their hands bound together, apparently a revenge action because they were deemed to have been informers working for Israel. The exact circumstances of that incident not clear. But clearly there was support for it in the Palestinian community in Hebron, for this attack on what are believed to have been collaborators with Israel is being described in the wake of that Israeli attack last night which killed the leading militia leader and one of his top aides -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks to you, Jerrold Kessel, reporting live for us this morning.

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