Nativity basilica siege grinds on

A bitter Yasser Arafat wound up more than two hours of talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell today by demanding that the Bush administration and the international community act together to break Israel's siege of his headquarters.

"I cannot go out the door," he said, his voice rising with apparent exasperation. Around the building in Ramallah, Israeli snipers and tanks kept up their constant vigil.

Prior to Mr Powell's arrival for the meeting with Mr Arafat, top Arafat adviser Saeb Erekat expressed disappointment that Mr Powell had not been able to engineer a full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.

Meanwhile, at the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the decaying corpses of two Muslim policemen killed by Israeli snipers have been wrapped in blankets and stored outside. But Church officials insist that they cannot be buried at the site which many Christians believe marks the birthplace of Christ.

"We don't want this to become a shrine for Muslim martyrs. If they are buried here there will be a monument, and then a mosque, and then we'll start arguing among ourselves," said a source inside the basilica complex which has been besieged by Israeli troops for almost two weeks.

"Muslim clerics understand this. They have not complained. But the health hazards are obvious," he said.

Last night heavy gunfire erupted around the basilica, where 200 gunmen and Palestinian police sought sanctuary when Israeli tanks roared into Manger Square. The men, Israel insists, include terrorists.

They have been offered a deal mediated by the CIA - exile, or trial in Israel. So far they have refused the offer and continue to camp beneath the ancient cedar roof of the church.

Short of food and water, they now have to endure the Israeli "psy-ops" use of pop music to drive them out.

Last night the basilica's bell tower was hit by Israeli gunfire in the latest flare-up which the Palestinians inside claimed had been an attempt to storm the holy place. "The exchange of fire lasted for about an hour ... it is hard for us to determine who started the shooting," Father Seweryn Lubecki said by telephone from the church. "It seems that the basilica was not damaged. The Israeli soldiers are very careful not to damage it."

The scene at the basilica is being played out large across the West Bank which is into its third week of an Israeli invasion of Palestinian towns and villages.

Last night a dawn-to-dusk curfew was clamped on Arab towns on the outskirts of Jerusalem after reports that a suicide bomber was trying to get into the Holy City ahead of Israel's Independence Day today. Jenin, Bethlehem and Nablus were also under curfew while fighting raged in several smaller West Bank villages.

All this has been going on during Mr Powell's peace mission. Today he met Mr Arafat for the second time after several encounters with Ariel Sharon, the author of the West Bank invasions.

The Israeli prime minister ordered his troops into Palestinian areas in response to a wave of suicide bomb attacks which have killed more than 115 Israelis over the last month. He has managed to ignore repeated US calls for an immediate withdrawal, which faded in volume and sincerity through Mr Powell's trip.

Mr Sharon has suggested a UShosted summit with moderate Arab regimes including Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Saudi Arabia which, perhaps, Mr Arafat would be allowed to attend in June. The plan, which has little chance of coming to fruition, is the best Mr Powell has come up with on his 10-day tour of the region.

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