Deal Seen Near to End Impasse in Church Siege
Early this morning, Mr. Arafat, the Palestinian leader, was said to be at his Ramallah headquarters reviewing a list of 123 people and terms for their exit from the Church of the Nativity, where Palestinian gunmen took refuge after the Israeli military swept into the city early last month.

Under the terms of the proposal presented to Mr. Arafat, about a half-dozen Palestinian men whom Israel considers terrorists would be sent to live in Italy. As many as 35 others would be removed to the Gaza Strip, and the rest would go free, according to Palestinian officials and a person directly involved in the negotiations.

In turn, Israel would withdraw its forces from Bethlehem.

Such a settlement — which some Palestinians said was under active consideration by Mr. Arafat and others said he had accepted in principle — would represent a significant compromise by the Palestinian leader, who has fiercely resisted the notion of exile for any of the besieged men.

Accordingly, Palestinians said this morning that the wording would be drawn up carefully. They said the men leaving Israeli- and Palestinian-controlled territories would assume "temporary residence abroad."

Hassan Abed Rabbo, a leader in Bethlehem of Mr. Arafat's faction, Al Fatah, used a euphemism: "They will be hosted in Italy."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/06/international/middleeast/06MIDE.html