British plane ‘ready to help end Bethlehem Church siege’

A deal has been reached to end the 38-day standoff at Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity that would divide among several countries the 13 suspected militants Israel wants deported, an Israeli official said tonight.

Under the deal, reached by European negotiators, Italy and Spain would take some of the militants, while the remainder would be spread among at least four other countries, the Israeli official said.

A senior Palestinian official confirmed a deal had been reached.

Israeli military sources said they do not believe the Palestinians will leave the church until Friday morning.

Cypriot Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said his country would temporarily take in the 13 militants. From there they would be flown to their final destinations.

A British military aircraft was waiting at Akrotiri RAF base to fly to Israel to pick up the 13 Palestinians, he said. It was not immediately clear when the plane would leave.

A previous deal that would have sent the 13 militants to Italy unravelled on Tuesday when Italian officials said they had not be fully consulted about the plan.

An Italian Foreign Ministry official said that under the latest proposed deal, Italy and Spain would take some of the militants, while Austria, Greece, Luxembourg, Ireland and perhaps even Canada might take the rest.

The siege began April 2 when more than 200 Palestinians fled into the church, which marks the birthplace of Jesus, ahead of approaching Israeli forces.

In the weeks that followed, several groups of civilians and Palestinian policemen left the compound, leaving 123 inside.

Earlier today, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators said a deal was in place to allow dozens of Palestinians to emerge from the church, leaving behind 13 suspected militants until a country could be found to take them.

A group of 26 suspected gunmen was to leave the church first to be transported to Gaza and about 80 civilians inside would be freed, said Captain Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman.

The last 13 would remain while negotiators worked to find a country to take them. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Thursday that Spain might be willing to take three or four of them.

Buses pulled into Manger Square early today, presumably to transport those inside the church to their destinations.

But hours later the talks broke down and the buses drove away empty.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators accused each other of violating the terms of that arduously reached agreement. The Palestinians said Israel refused at the last minute to implement the deal and the Israelis said the Palestinians had made new, unacceptable demands.

European Union envoy Miguel Moratinos discussed the situation with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah this evening.

‘‘We still have to do some work,’’ Moratinos said after the meeting. ‘‘We are looking for a fair and just solution for this crisis ... and we hope we will succeed.’’

Deporting the 13 gunmen from the Christian shrine was one of the sticking points preventing a complete resolution to the siege.