Israel and the Palestinians held high-level talks Saturday to try to end the month-long standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Palestinians inside the church, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press by telephone that they had compiled a list of 123 names of those inside the church to give to the negotiators — a possible prelude to hammering out the fate of the wanted Palestinian activists among them. The talks were taking place at an undisclosed location.
The talks are helped by EU envoys who tried to reach a deal to transfer wanted Palestinians inside the church into international custody.
A EU negotiator entered the church and took charge of the list of the Palestinians inside. The European was then to hand it to the Israeli army, a senior EU official said, after which four of the men most wanted by the Jewish state -- and who are thought to be inside -- would be transferred to international custody.
The European official quoted a senior Palestinian as saying the crisis could be resolved by Sunday. "We expect good news from the basilica by tomorrow," he said. The official said both sides were studying where the four wanted Palestinians would be held, saying they might even be kept in a European jail.
U.S. officials were also taking part in the talks, Mayor Hanna Nasser, who has been involved in the on-off negotiations over the past month, told Reuters.
"I am telling you that I expect it to be solved in the coming hours," Nasser said, adding: "Without the Americans, no solution would take place."
Palestinian sources said that senior aides to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat were participating in the talks. (Albawaba.com)
