27 Palestinians leave Bethlehem siege

A group of 27 Palestinians this afternoon walked out of Bethlehem's Basilica of the Nativity into Israeli custody, as the siege of the birthplace of Christ entered its fourth week and the Pope sent a special envoy to the region.

The men, half of them police who fled into the church during Israel's invasion of Bethlehem, were marched individually out of the Crusader-era "door of humility" by Franciscan father Ibrahim Fanto under the gaze of dozens of Israeli snipers.

They showed their identity documents and were driven away by Israeli anti-terrorist experts for screening.

About 150 gunmen and 45 clerics remain in the church. Israel has demanded that known "terrorists" should face an Israeli court. But Palestinians insist the gunmen should be allowed safe passage to Gaza.

Yesterday Nidal Abbayad, member of a notoriously violent clan in Bethlehem, was shot dead inside the church compound by an Israeli sniper.

But a breakthrough came as part of a deal to end the siege of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in his Ramallah compound. British and US security experts will inspect the Jericho prison where six Palestinians, accused of assassinating Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi, are to be held and guarded by an Anglo-American team.

British military advisers to the government have warned the "monitors" risk attack from the suspects' supporters, or by Israel which has bombed the Jericho prison twice. Over the last month Mr Arafat has been surrounded in his offices with 300 others, among them peace activists, with only three toilets and irregular supplies of water and food. Israel has said when he leaves he will be allowed to move freely.

Meanwhile Pope John Paul II will send Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the Vatican's peace and justice council and one of his closest aides, to Jerusalem tomorrow.

The Vatican said the mission was because of the Pope's "concerns for peace in the Holy Land, for its Christian community and the Israeli and Palestinian populations."

Israel has begun to pull back from Hebron, the West Bank city divided between Arabs and Jews, after a two-day raid in search of guerrillas who killed four Jews, among them a girl of five, last Saturday. Nine Palestinians were killed during the Israeli assault.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Cabinet continues to blocked a United Nations mission to investigate allegations of war crimes during its invasion of Jenin.