(Updated Sunday 10:30 AM) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his top ministers met this morning and decided to end the IDF closure on Yasser Arafat’s Mukata Compound. However, troops will remain close by to arrest any wanted terrorists who attempt to escape Arafat’s den. Those Arabs not appearing on the IDF's most wanted list will be allowed to leave.
The news comes just hours after Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio that a solution similar to the one reached this past May at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was is in the works. Under that arrangement 13 arch-terrorists were deported to various European countries. The rest of the Arabs in the Church Compound were sent to Gaza.
US president George Bush sent a personal message to Prime Minister Sharon calling on him to take steps to bring the siege to an end. On Friday, Sharon’s Bureau chief Dov Weisglass met in Washington with US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to discuss the situation on the ground. Rice told Weinglass that the US expects a speedy resolution to the situation.
The news comes just hours after Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio that a solution similar to the one reached this past May at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was is in the works. Under that arrangement 13 arch-terrorists were deported to various European countries. The rest of the Arabs in the Church Compound were sent to Gaza.
US president George Bush sent a personal message to Prime Minister Sharon calling on him to take steps to bring the siege to an end. On Friday, Sharon’s Bureau chief Dov Weisglass met in Washington with US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to discuss the situation on the ground. Rice told Weinglass that the US expects a speedy resolution to the situation.