Hezbollah offers way out of Bethlehem stand-off

Hezbollah has offered to release some of the Israeli prisoners it holds to win freedom for Palestinians holed up in the West Bank.

The terror group's leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah made the offer in a bid to secure the freedom of Palestinians holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and in Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters.

He made the statement on the Hezbollah's Al-Manar Television. According to the statement, Hezbollah is ready to start negotiations "as of this moment."

The offer comes as efforts continue to end the 26-day standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, where more than 200 Palestinians, including about 30 wanted militants, are surrounded by Israeli forces.

Israel is also demanding that the Palestinian Authority hands over from Arafat's compound four Palestinians charged with the assassination of Zeevi in October.

Instead, the four suspects were put on trial in Arafat's office in the West Bank town of Ramallah last week and sentenced to terms ranging from one to 18 years.

The statement said: "Hezbollah declares that it is ready to negotiate through any mediator possible to achieve the release of all those brothers and solve those two cases for good in return for whoever is agreed upon from the prisoners Hezbollah holds."

Hezbollah captured three Israeli soldiers in October 2000 in Chebaa Farms, a disputed area on Lebanon's border with Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Later that month, the group captured an Israeli businessman and reserve army colonel Elhanan Tennenbaum under unclear circumstances.

Hezbollah had captured the four hoping to exchange them for 13 Lebanese prisoners held by Israel. The group also demanded the release of other Arab detainees. The new Hezbollah statement did not mention the 13 Lebanese or the other Arabs.