DATE=05/13/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (S UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-289736

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

/// UPDATES CR 2-289726 ///

INTRO: For the first time in months, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has left Ramallah to visit battle-scarred cities in the West Bank -- but he skipped a visit to a refugee camp in Jenin, where residents expressed anger at the change of plans. Israeli troops withdrew from Ramallah and other West Bank cities last week, ending a seige of his compound. V-O-A's Meredith Buel reports.

TEXT: The Palestinian leaded traveled aboard a Jordanian air force helicopter, visiting three areas hit hard by Israel's recent military incursion in the West Bank.

Mr. Arafat, arm-in-arm with senior clergymen, visited Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, days after a deal was reached to end an Israeli siege of the basilica.

During his tour of the Christian shrine, the Palestinian leader said, "this place will be always and forever inside our hearts, minds, and beliefs."

Mr. Arafat also visited the cities of Nablus and Jenin, where fierce fighting took place last month between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen.

The Palestinian leader, however, canceled a planned visit to the Jenin refugee camp, which was partially devastated in the fighting.

Some of the thousands of people waiting inside the camp expressed disappointment and anger at the cancellation, which was apparently due to security concerns. (Signed)

NEB/MB/JWH/KBK