Twelve Palestinian fighters were set to leave Wednesday a Cyprus hotel for exile in various European states under an EU-brokered deal that enabled them to escape from a besieged Bethlehem church.
Agreement on where they would go in the European Union was officially approved by the 15 states Tuesday after a week of intense talks, the Spanish EU presidency said in Brussels.
Under the deal, three Palestinians each will be taken in by Italy and Spain, two each by Greece and Ireland and one each by Portugal and Belgium. A 13th Palestinian will remain in Cyprus.
The men have been held under guard at a Cyprus hotel for the past 11 days since their negotiated release from the Israeli siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. A Spanish military transport plane arrived Larnaca airport late Tuesday to fly nine of the Palestinians to their respective destinations.
Yacovos Papacostas, the head of Cyprus' anti-terrorist unit, said an Italian jet also arrived in Cyprus on Tuesday to fly out the three Palestinians slated for exile in Italy.
The Palestinian Authority representative in Cyprus, Samir Abu Ghazaleh, later met with the 13 Palestinians and the Italian ambassador, AFP reported. When asked by reporters whether the three militants due to be exiled in Italy would fly separately, he nodded affirmatively.
Abu Ghazaleh said the 12 were due to leave the island Wednesday at 8:00 am (0500 GMT).
The Cypriot government, meanwhile, denied that the 13th Palestinian was "the worst" of the group and that no country had agreed accept him for that reason. "The 13th Palestinian poses no particular problem, and there is no question of leaving him here," an official source said. "Negotiations to find him a new country will take several days."
The identity of the Palestinian who will remain in Cyprus has not been revealed.
"I don't know where I am going to go," Abdallah Daoud shouted from the balcony of his fourth floor room at Larnaca's three-star Flamingo Beach hotel, addressing journalists in a neighboring building.
Daoud, 41, was the head of the information service in the Bethlehem sector and is accused by Israel of having planned anti-Israeli attacks and arms trafficking.
Under the EU deal approved Tuesday, the host nations will receive the 12 Palestinians "on humanitarian grounds" and "on a temporary basis". Each will be granted a permit to enter the particular country and stay "for a period up to 12 months."
Issues such as housing, living conditions, access to jobs and relations with family members will be left up to the host countries. Speaking to Spanish radio station RAC 1, EU Middle East envoy Miguel Moratinos said the 13 would be allowed to work or study. "They won't be detained, not at all. They will have freedom, although they will be under a certain control," he said without elaborating.
If an extradition request is made for one of the Palestinians, the EU member states have agreed to consider it together.
For security reasons, it has not been revealed which Palestinians will be going to which country.
The EU plan, agreed Monday, had been subject by Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique to a 24-hour objection period which expired at 15h00 GMT Tuesday without dissent. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
