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CNN Live Today
Standoff at Church of Nativity Ends
Aired May 07, 2002 - 10:16 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And now, for the latest on the reported deal in Bethlehem, the one that could end the five-week-old standoff at the Church of the Nativity, let's bring in our senior international correspondent, Walter Rodgers, joining us from Bethlehem -- Walter, hello.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn -- good morning.
Israel's defense minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, is the latest to say an agreement with the Palestinians has been finalized. He said it was finalized in the past few hours.
He also says that this could all be over in a few hours -- that is to say ending the standoff between the Israelis outside the Church of the Nativity Bethlehem's Manger Square and the Palestinian gunmen inside the church.
There is one remaining difficulty, as always happens in the Middle East, and Colonel Olivier Rafowicz of the Israeli army just a few moments ago came to the barricades below us and explain what the latest hold up is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLONEL OLIVIER RAFOWICZ, ISRAELI ARMY SPOKESMAN: We have reached an understanding to resolve the crisis of the Church of the Nativity. We intend to implement the agreement. The implementation is being delayed, because there is no country willing to accept the terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RODGERS: The Italians were the ones who threw the last-minute spanner into the works. The Americans, the British, the Israelis and the Palestinians had negotiations overnight which were successful. They agreed to the deportation of 13 Palestinian hardliners to Italy.
You are looking into Manger Square now, the Door of Humility at the Church of the Nativity, the traditional site of Jesus' birth. You can see all the preparations are there, the Israeli police barricades. If you look closely, you can you see two metal detectors exactly like those you would pass through before getting on an airplane. Also you can see screens, which the Israelis have to block the view of the Palestinians when they emerge from the church.
Again, the problem continues to be the Italians, who everyone thought would take the Palestinians, but now they are saying they are not so sure they want them. The reason the Italians are angry is they do not know the terms of confinement that were negotiated, and until they see the papers by which they are brought into this process, the Italians are not eager to take those 13 Palestinian hardliners. That could be negotiated, because the Americans are working on it very hard.
One last problem however with the Italians, they say they can't put anybody in jail, unless there is a trial, and no one tried these 13 Palestinian hardcore fighters -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Walter, I guess I have many of the same questions that the Italians have, and that is what happens to these men once they do go to Italy? It is not to go on holiday, I imagine. It would be for some kind of confinement there that would just at least get them out of the area.
RODGERS: That's true. But the Italian's pride is very much wounded in all of this, because they did not know until last night that they were really going to get the Palestinian fighters, and they are not particularly eager to get them. And the Palestinians have laws, like most Western democratic societies, that say if you are going to put somebody in jail, you have to have a trial.
No matter what you say, the Israelis are the only ones who are saying that the people inside that church at this point are Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Aqsa Brigade fighters. The Israelis say they are terrorists, but they haven't had a trial. So really they are alleged terrorists, and you can understand the Palestinians -- or excuse me, the Italians being upset about this, particularly in view of the fact that the Americans and the British just assume the Italians would take them without working out those details -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Walter, it was like when you and I were talking yesterday, and I asked you why Italy? I guess as you are reporting, it was news to them as well. And those details and those feathers still need to be calmed down. Walter Rodgers in Bethlehem -- thank you so much.
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