Who Should Probe Jenin?

Israel says the United Nations has some work to do and some promises to make before it can get started on its probe of war crimes allegations at the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank.

As that announcement was made - infuriating Palestinians - Israel at the same time cleared the way for European envoys to go ahead with a visit today to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, whose Ramallah office is still surrounded by Israeli troops.

Israel told the United Nations overnight it had changed its mind about the U.N. probe into the fierce battles at Jenin and will not admit the fact-finding team to Jenin unless some changes are made in the plan for the investigation.

Israel wants more military and counter-terrorism experts added to the panel of investigators. It also wants assurances that the team will confine its probe to Jenin and will also investigate allegations of Palestinian terrorist activity at Jenin.

Palestinians, who have alleged a massacre in the camp, responded angrily, saying Israel's objections to a mission it had agreed to on Friday showed it had something to hide.

The mayor of Jerusalem added his voice to the dispute over who should be on the U.N. team investigating the Jenin allegations.

"What we want are people who are not committed to a position against us," Ehud Olmert told reporters today. "If there is a verdict ready to condemn Israel, then there is no need for any inquiry."

The Jerusalem mayor went on to blast what he feels has been biased reporting by the media of what he says is Israel's "just war of self-defense."

"Let's face it, Arafat is a terrorist. He was a terrorist - he will remain a terrorist," said Olmert. "There is no chance ever to sign peace with Arafat. It's a waste of time."

In Bethlehem, Israel and the Palestinians prepared for more talks on resolving a stalemate at the Church of the Nativity, where dozens of Palestinian fighters took refuge from Israeli tanks crashing into the town of Jesus' birth on April 2.

Two rounds of face-to-face negotiations failed to find a solution on Tuesday.

Palestinians had been optimistic for a quick resolution in the talks to end the standoff. But the key dispute remains. Israel says wanted militiamen inside the church must be tried in Israeli courts or exiled abroad; the Palestinians propose sending them to the Gaza Strip under international escort.

Palestinian lawmaker Salah Taameri, who participated in the talks, said both sides are determined to reach a peaceful solution. Israel, he said, had agreed to evacuate four sick people from the church compound. He did not say if they were civilians, armed Palestinians or the clerics who have been inside since April 2.

In the Gaza Strip Tuesday night, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians who tried to infiltrate the Jewish settlement of Netzarim on Tuesday night, according to the Israeli army. Relatives named the three as Youssef Zaqout, Anwar Hamdouna and Ismail Abu Nadi, 14-year-old classmates from Gaza City.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said experts might be added to the team "as necessary" and agreed to postpone its departure by a day or two. He said in a statement he still expected the mission to be in the region by Saturday.

Palestinians have said hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the camp, including many whose homes were shelled or bulldozed. Israel has said it killed only a few dozen gunmen.

Twenty-three Israeli soldiers died in the camp, scene of the fiercest fighting of the West Bank offensive Israel launched on March 29 after suicide bombings that killed scores of Israelis.

As Israel raised objections concerning the U.N. effort to clarify events in Jenin, it gave the go-ahead for European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to visit Arafat, after denying him access to the Palestinian leader earlier this month.

Solana is due to visit Arafat's tank-ringed compound in Ramallah with the EU's Middle East envoy Miguel Moratinos and meet Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer later in the day. It was not clear if the EU envoys would also meet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has declared Arafat an enemy.

The foreign ministers of traditional foes Greece and Turkey, staging an unusual joint peace mission, are to visit Arafat and Israeli leaders on Thursday.

Explosions near Arafat's office Tuesday, which the army said were caused by soldiers destroying grenades found in the compound, alarmed Palestinians and prompted concern among delegates at the U.N. Security Council.

"The members of the council expressed serious concern for the safety of Chairman Arafat," said Russia's U.N. ambassador, Sergei Lavrov, this month's council president.

"They stressed that there must be no harm to him or others in the compound together with him," he said after a special council session called by Syria to discuss the explosions.

Council members reiterated that the siege "must be lifted and Chairman Arafat must have full freedom of movement in order to be able to carry out his functions," Lavrov said.

Israel's demands on the Jenin probe were likely to touch off a flurry of diplomacy to put the U.N. mission back on track.

Mohammed Rashid, an aide to Arafat, said the Palestinians were not surprised by Israel's refusal to cooperate.

"It shows that Israel has something to hide concerning the atrocities and war crimes committed at the camp," he said.

Martti Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland, was to lead the team, which included Cornelio Sommaruga, former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Sadako Ogata, the former U.N. high commissioner for refugees.

Ahtisaari said on Tuesday a U.S. military adviser, retired Major-General William Nash, would be a full member of the team.

Palestinians tried to pick up their lives and clear rubble from streets after Israeli pullbacks from West Bank cities.

After Israeli forces left, Palestinian militants killed four alleged informants for Israel in street executions. Palestinian officials said the Israeli operation had crippled police forces.

In Nablus, where troops withdrew on Sunday, schools reopened, apart from three damaged in the fighting. Juman Qaraman, head of education in the city, told Reuters 69,000 pupils were back in class for the first time in nearly a month.

But one desk was empty, that of 11-year-old Qusay Abu Aisha, shot dead when Israeli troops entered the Askar refugee camp.

At least 1,302 Palestinians and 454 Israelis have been killed during an 18-month-old Palestinian uprising.