Despite last minute hitches, IDF troops last night completed their withdrawal from PLO controlled Ramallah, including around Yasser Arafat’s Mukata compound. Troops remain stationed in buffer zones around the city. Immediately before the withdrawal, a convoy of American and British vehicles arrived in the compound to transport six wanted Arabs to a Palestinian jail in Jericho. Those taken to Jericho were the four Arabs involved in the murder of Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze’evi last October, Mr. Fuad Shubaki, the mastermind behind the Karin A arms smuggling operation, as well as Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmad Sa’adat. Arabs in Jericho took to the streets in celebration when the motorcade carrying the terrorists arrived.
Under a deal brokered by the US government, the prisoners will be remain in the Jericho prison, under the eye of American and British wardens to insure that the men remain behind bars. The wardens will be unarmed and will not have keys to the prisoner’s cells.
In his first public address following his release from Ramallah, Arafat called IDF soldiers, \"Terrorists, Nazis, and racists.\" He made his comments specifically in reference to the situation at Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity. IDF troops continue to surround the church, as wanted terrorists and Arab gunmen holed up inside refuse to surrender themselves. The Arabs continue to hold hostages inside the church, including Christian clergy members.
Last night Arabs fired at soldiers around the church and an intense gun battle broke out. During the battle Arabs started a fire in a section of the church, and then accused Israel of trying to destroy the Christian Holy Site. The blaze was contained after half-an-hour despite the fact that the Arabs prevented fire trucks from reaching the site.
Under a deal brokered by the US government, the prisoners will be remain in the Jericho prison, under the eye of American and British wardens to insure that the men remain behind bars. The wardens will be unarmed and will not have keys to the prisoner’s cells.
In his first public address following his release from Ramallah, Arafat called IDF soldiers, \"Terrorists, Nazis, and racists.\" He made his comments specifically in reference to the situation at Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity. IDF troops continue to surround the church, as wanted terrorists and Arab gunmen holed up inside refuse to surrender themselves. The Arabs continue to hold hostages inside the church, including Christian clergy members.
Last night Arabs fired at soldiers around the church and an intense gun battle broke out. During the battle Arabs started a fire in a section of the church, and then accused Israel of trying to destroy the Christian Holy Site. The blaze was contained after half-an-hour despite the fact that the Arabs prevented fire trucks from reaching the site.