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CNN Sunday Morning

Negotiators Trying to End Standoff at Church of Nativity

Aired May 05, 2002 - 08:08   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In the West Bank negotiators are trying to end the standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. Walter Rodgers joins us live, starting off with the latest on that West Bank shooting -- Walter.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra. More violence on the West Bank. Three Palestinians killed and the Israeli army has apologized for the killing of this Palestinian mother and her two children. According to the Israeli army version of events, one of their vehicles was traveling down a road. It came across an explosive device in the road. The crew of this vehicle thought it was under attack, the gunners aboard the vehicle began shooting at what they say were suspicious targets in an olive grove.

That turned out tragically to be a Palestinian mother and her two children. Again the Israeli army has expressed its regrets for that killing. Now, here in Bethlehem, the siege at the church now in its fifth week continues, but there are now intense negotiations under way in Ramallah close to Yasser Arafat's headquarters including the Israelis, the Palestinians, the Americans and the British to end this siege.

Israeli tanks still surround the Church of the nativity here, and there are Palestinian gun men inside that church, over 100 people still inside the church in their fifth week. That church being the traditional site of Jesus' birth. There is an unstated deadline to end the siege here at the church. The unstated deadline the Tuesday. That is when Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon meets President Bush at the White House. Almost everyone would like to see this standoff completed before then. Galah Ta'amari is a Palestinian negotiator involved in the early stages of the talks about the church in Bethlehem said conditions are now pretty bad after 36 days.

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GALAH TA'AMARI, PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: The people were hungry. The people were starving. The people inside the church didn't have clean water to drink. The people inside the church could not reach the toilets because that expose them to the Israeli fire. But I don't think there was any scenes in the church.

RODGERS: How many Palestinians have Israeli snipers killed inside the Church of the Nativity compound?

TA'AMARI: Eight since the beginning of the negotiations.

RODGERS: How many Palestinians are left in there? How many clergy?

TA'AMARI: Now there are 123 Palestinians, 26 clergy and four nuns. That amounts to 30.

RODGERS: Here in the holy land orthodox Christians are celebrating their Easter but in Bethlehem of course they're banned from going into the Church of the Nativity because of the continuing standoff in Jerusalem. Pope John Paul II's emissary to this crisis expressed Vatican anger over the crisis, saying the continuing siege is a disgrace to Christianity and a blight on the church where Jesus Christ is said to have been born.

Both sides in this crisis, that is the Israelis and the Palestinians, say they would like to see this ended. What's being negotiated now is apparently the mechanics of the release of the 150 or so people inside, how and when they're to be released, again, most people expect it will be within the next 48 hours -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Walter Rogers, live from Bethlehem. Thank you.

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