HIGHLIGHTS: Council Debates Rival UN and Arab-Drafted Resolutions++Israeli Press Reports Confirm Palestinian Accusations of Israeli Atrocities Against Palestinians++Arabs Drop Reference to Chapter VII of the UN Charter++Palestinians Celebrate End of Arafat's Siege While Fire Brakes out in Church of Nativity++STORY: Announcing his decision to disband the UN Jenin Probe Mission UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that the announcement means that the long shadow cast by recent events in the Jenin refugee camp will remain. In Ramallah, Palestinians celebrated the end of the month-long siege of the Arafat compound but fire broke out at the besieged Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem with each side accusing the other of firing first. (Read photo caption).

Annan wrote a three-page letter to the U.N. Security Council, giving his reasons for disbanding the 20-member panel on Thursday. Council members then debated rival U.S. and Arab-drafted resolutions in closed consultations.

Palestinians accuse the Israeli occupation army of a massacre during eight days of fierce house-to-house fighting that left most of the camp in ruins. Israeli press reports confirm the accusations quoting army officers and soldiers admitting atrocities against the Palestinian population both in Jenin and in its refugee camp.

Annan said he regretted that aborting the mission meant "the long shadow cast by recent events in the Jenin refugee camp will remain."

SECURITY COUNCIL IN SESSION

The Security Council consulted past midnight EDT with the United States, drafting a resolution in an effort to ward off a stronger Arab-initiated draft.

The Arab draft demands Israel accept the fact-finding team and stop its siege on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. In a compromise, Arab nations, dropped from the text a threat of further unspecified actions as well as a reference to Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which allows sanctions.

The U.S. draft would regret Israel's decision not to cooperate with the mission and support Annan's decision to disband the team. It asks Annan to keep the council informed as "accurate information" about Jenin becomes available.

Washington had been instrumental in getting Israel to accept the mission in the first place and hoped until the last minute it would go ahead. The White House expressed regrets.

END OF ARAFAT'S SIEGE

Israeli troops ended their siege of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters by agreement but fierce fighting broke out at Bethlehem's besieged Nativity church.

Israeli forces completed their withdrawal from around Arafat's compound early on Thursday.

Hundreds of whistling and cheering Palestinians surged to the compound to celebrate the Palestinian leader's freedom as he made his first public remarks since Israeli troops moved out.

Under the U.S.-brokered deal to end the siege, Palestinian, U.S. and British officials escorted six men into armored vehicles which took them out of Arafat's compound to detention in Jericho, which will be supervised by a U.S. and British team.
Israel originally demanded that the men be handed over for trial in Israel for the assassination of an Israeli minister.

FIGHTING IN CHURCH

The Palestinian leader, newly freed from a month of virtual house arrest by Israeli forces, angrily condemned Israel's stranglehold on the West Bank town of Bethlehem, where gunfire crackled and Israeli flares lit up the Church of the Nativity.
Palestinian Resistance men in the church are surrounded by Israeli occupation troops.


The fire in the Church of the Nativity died down not long after it started but at its height smoke billowed from the compound as flames licked out from buildings near the church.

Palestinians inside the church accused the Israelis of attempting to storm the compound and said three people had been hurt by the fire.

PHOTO CAPTION

Members of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's personal security guards celebrate in front of his headquarters in Ramallah, early May 2, 2002. Israeli tanks and troops pulled out of the compound housing Arafat's headquarters, ending a one-month siege of the defiant Palestinian leader. (Osama Silwadi/Reuters)