EU Strikes Deal on Palestinian Exiles

19/05/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: 6 EU States Will Take 12 & 13th Remains in Cyprus|| Exiles Will Be Protected From Prosecution 'On humanitarian grounds'||Exiles Won't Be Granted Right to Go Abroad||STORY: EU president Spain has brokered a deal in which six European Union member states will take 12 of the 13 exiled Palestinian militants freed from the Church of the Nativity, Spanish state radio said early on Sunday. (Read photo caption)

Spain and Italy will each take three of the militants, Greece and Ireland will take two each, Portugal and Finland one each, and one will remain in Cyprus, state radio said, citing Spanish diplomatic sources.

The first five of those European countries previously said they would take at least one militant each. Finland apparently emerged late in the process.

Spokesmen for the Spanish foreign ministry and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana could not immediately be reached for confirmation.

The radio said Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique closed the deal late on Saturday after a series of telephone conversations with other European Union officials.

The EU played a major role in ending the siege at the church by mediating a bilateral deal between Israel and the Palestinians to free those inside.

Cyprus, a candidate for EU membership, agreed to take the 13 men on a temporary basis while negotiations on their final destination continued.

The EU's Middle East special envoy, Miguel Moratinos, led efforts in the region with Solana, Pique and individual foreign ministers working in Europe to give the EU a rare diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East, where the United States is the dominant foreign power.

WANTED IN ISRAEL, PROTECTED IN EUROPE

In Europe they will enjoy protection "on humanitarian grounds" and will be entitled to reunification with their families at a later date, the EU said on Saturday.

Each country will apply its own laws should the Palestinians request asylum, and if Israel seeks to extradite any of them as it has indicated it may, the 15 EU member states will adopt a common position on the matter.

Diplomats said the Palestinians would be granted "special permission to stay" under national law with police surveillance and without the right to go abroad.

Pique told a news conference on Saturday that a deal was close and rejected allegations that the EU was dragging its feet over where to put the 13.

Several other countries say they are barred by their national legislation from giving guarantees sought by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat that the men would not be jailed.

There was no immediate indication of when they would leave Cyprus, which said earlier it hoped they would move on to their final destinations by Tuesday.

PHOTO CAPTION

European Union states went on wrangling May 17, 2002 over who would take in 13 exiled Palestinian militants under a deal with Israel that ended the Bethlehem Church of the Nativity siege, diplomats said. Israeli soldiers, seen in a picture handed out by the Israeli army, escort one of the Palestinians holed up in the Church of the Nativity into Ben-Gurion airport for deportation on May 10. (Israeli Defense Forces via Reuters)