DATE=05/10/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (S UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-289650

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICE AT:

/// UPDATES CR 2-289643, BY ROSS DUNN ///

INTRO: A tense standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity has ended peacefully. V-O-A correspondent Meredith Buel reports from Jerusalem.

TEXT: The nearly six week Israeli military siege at the basilica ended with some Palestinian militants being sent into exile and others transferred to the Gaza Strip.

Thirteen suspected gunmen wanted by Israel for attacks against its citizens were the first to leave.

They were flown on a British military aircraft to Cyprus. This move helped prompt an end the standoff, with the gunmen detained until European Union officials decide which countries will accept them for exile.

Twenty-six other militants who had been hiding in the church were transferred to the Gaza Strip where they received a heroes welcome.

More than 80 other people, including civilians trapped in the shrine, were also set free.

Israeli police entered the basilica and escorted 10 foreign peace activists out of the compound.

In early April, when Israeli soliders entered the city, about 200 people took refuge in the church, built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born.

The end of the siege paves the way for tanks and troops to withdraw from Bethlehem. (Signed)

NEB/MB/JWH/SAB