May 13, 2002

The Council welcomes the end of the "Church of the Nativity" in Bethlehem crisis, calls on all sides to respect religious and cultural monuments of the region and reiterates its gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Cyprus for its valuable assistance to the E.U. governments in provisionally accepting the 13 Palestinians on its territory.

The Council welcomes the offer by Member States to provide temporary stay on humanitarian grounds within the E.U. to a number of Palestinians until recently held up in the "Church of the Nativity".

We understand that this offer was made in the context of the extreme circumstances surrounding this issue and as a way out of a crisis that could have had widespread ramifications if it had continued.

The E.U. in accordance with the undertakings given to the Government of the Republic of Cyprus by the E.U. Presidency will relocate these Palestinians in certain E.U. Member States.

The Council agress to ask Coreper to define the relevant modalities in the next few days.

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