Israel Lifts Siege as Arafat Yields Six Wanted Men
Palestinians trapped for a month in Yasir Arafat's humbled compound here erupted in celebration early this morning after Israeli forces withdrew in an American-brokered compromise.

But almost at the same time, a gunfight broke out at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, setting off fires in the church compound where Palestinian gunmen and noncombatants have been under Israeli siege since early April.

Before he knew that the gunfight had subsided relatively quickly and the church compound had only briefly been aflame, Mr. Arafat exploded in rage at the news from Bethlehem, shouting: "This is a crime! This is a crime!" and calling those who committed it "terrorists, Nazis and racists."

The skirmish and Mr. Arafat's obvious suspicion that Israel was double-dealing underscored how distant even a truce remained, despite the end to the treacherous impasse in Ramallah.

The prisoners arrived in Jericho to the cheers of a crowd outside the local police headquarters where they will be incarcerated. Not everyone was happy with the compromise that landed the men in their midst.

"Why should these men be convicted, and not those who killed Palestinian children, destroyed homes in the Jenin refugee camp on the heads of their inhabitants and assassinated political leaders like Abu Ali Mustafa?" asked Youssef al-Qaissi, 46, a civil engineer, referring to the Popular Front leader.

If Mr. Shubaki and Mr. Saadat are found not guilty, Israel is certain to demand their extradition. By treaty, each side is obliged to hand over suspects not held in its own jails.

Abdul Rahim Malouh, the deputy to Mr. Sadaat and a member of the executive committee of the P.L.O., said by telephone that the delivery of the prisoners to Jericho was "harmful on the political and internal Palestinian level. The people don't want international jailers, British or American. They want international protection from the massacres committed against them."

Among the women who lingered near the barricades, two blocks from where their loved ones were still held Wednesday, was Ifham Koran. Her son Hamdi was convicted of firing the shots that killed Mr. Zeevi, and she said he was being unjustly jailed. "He is a prisoner who was put in prison for defending his country," she said. "He should not be in prison for that." Ms. Koran, dressed from head to toe in black, broke into tears and said Mr. Arafat had been pressured into turning over her son.

But she refused to criticize him. Ziyad Mousa, a lecturer in linguistics at Bir Zeit University here, took his two granddaughters to the same barricade. Mr. Mousa, who splits his time between here and Irving, Tex., said his younger granddaughter, Zaina, 2, knew only two words: "Jews" and "Sharon."

"She is afraid of them," he said. He was not optimistic that Israel was prepared to talk peace. "They are afraid of peace, and they are afraid of war," he said. "They like a state of no war, and no peace. This is the climate where they can survive."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/02/international/middleeast/02MIDE.html?pagewanted=all