Israeli plans to withdraw from Bethlehem today

JERUSALEM -- Under intense American pressure, Israel said Friday it would start withdrawing its forces today from Palestinian towns -- beginning with the biblical town of Bethlehem and nearby Beit Jalla.

Israel had sent troops into six Palestinian towns last week in a hunt for the assassins of its ultranationalist tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi. The radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed it carried out the Oct. 17 assassination.

The Israeli incursions killed 37 Palestinians, failed to net Zeevi's killers and angered the Bush administration, which is worried that further unrest will undermine support among Arab nations for its anti-terrorism campaign.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had said that Israel wouldn't withdraw from the towns until Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat arrested and handed over the Palestinian militants responsible for Zeevi's killing.

But the Defense Ministry said Friday Israeli forces would withdraw from Bethlehem and Beit Jalla on Saturday night and "The Palestinian Authority will take upon itself the responsibility to retain the quiet in the area, if the army leaves."

The ministry said in a statement that Israeli and Palestinian security commanders would meet Sunday to discuss terms for Israel's pullout from other Palestinian-controlled towns.