U.S. plan aims to end Ramallah standoff

An Israeli tank patrols Sunday outside Yasser Arafat's compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- U.S. and British security experts are expected to arrive Monday in the Middle East to help implement a plan intended to end the standoff at Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's West Bank compound.

President Bush proposed the plan Saturday in a telephone call to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The Israeli Cabinet then approved the proposal Sunday, and Arafat gave his OK several hours later.

The initiative calls for U.S. and British personnel to guard six Palestinians in a jail in the Palestinian territories. In exchange, Israel would agree to allow Arafat to leave his compound and travel freely in the West Bank and Gaza, and it would withdraw its troops from the West Bank city of Ramallah.

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Israel wants four of the Palestinians in connection with the October killing of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi. Last week, a makeshift court in Arafat's compound convicted and sentenced the four men for their roles in the killing. The men received prison sentences ranging from one to 18 years.

Israel rejected the Palestinian action and demanded the right to try the four in an Israeli court. It has maintained that demand despite agreeing to Bush's plan.

Israel also wants another Palestinian in the compound, Fouad al-Shoubaki, in connection with the case of the Karine-A, an arms-smuggling ship that the Israelis captured this year in the Red Sea.

It is unclear whether a sixth wanted man -- Ahmad Sa'adat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -- is in Arafat's compound. Israel wants him because the PFLP claimed responsibility for Ze'evi's assassination.

The PFLP is a Palestinian militant group that has committed numerous international terrorist attacks and has conducted strikes against Israeli or moderate Arab targets, according to the U.S. State Department.

The standoff at Arafat's compound began March 29, when Israeli tanks and troops moved into Ramallah as part of what Israel called an operation to root out the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure. Palestinians accused Israel of trying to reoccupy Palestinian territories.

Israeli forces have said they are maintaining a presence outside the compound because of the wanted men inside.