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E.U. Reaches Agreement on Exiled Palestinians
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Jihad
Jarir, 31, one of 13 Palestinians sent into exile
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MADRID,
May 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The European Union said on
Sunday, May 19, it had agreed on how to accommodate 13 Palestinians
who were deported from Israel under a deal which ended a more than
five-week siege at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
The
Spanish foreign ministry said that Spain and Italy would both take
three of the Palestinians, Greece and Ireland would each take two,
while Portugal and Belgium would each accept one, Agence France-Presse
(AFP) reported.
The
Mediterranean island of Cyprus, which is currently hosting the 13 men,
will keep one of them.
Spain,
which holds the rotating E.U. presidency, did not say when they would
leave for their destination, nor what exactly would become of them
when they arrived.
The
13 men, regarded by Israel as “hardened terrorists”, were flown to
Cyprus on a British air force plane over a week ago as part of a deal
brokered by the E.U. and the United States to end the Israeli army
siege of the Bethlehem church.
However,
the E.U., concerned about the fine-details, has repeatedly put off a
decision on how and where to take them in.
The
men are currently being held at a hotel in Cyprus' southern coastal
town of Larnaca.
They
remain segregated from the other guests and are only allowed out from
their fourth-floor quarters at meal times.
Cyprus,
which is expected to join the E.U. as early as 2004, had only expected
to put them up for a few days and had become increasingly nervous at
the delay in finding a more permanent home, saying it feared for their
security.
E.U.
Middle East envoy Miguel Angel Moratinos, who took part in Saturday's
discussions between foreign ministers, has previously said the
militants would go into exile "as free men."
The
men are among a group of 123 Palestinians that the Israeli army
besieged, and released under the deal which saw another 26 resistance
activists transferred to the Gaza Strip and 84 other Palestinians
freed.
On
Friday E.U. members countries' ambassadors had tentatively decided
that the exiled men would be allowed to move freely about the country
that takes them in, but not to travel to other E.U. countries, a
diplomatic source said.
Italian
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said from a summit meeting of E.U.
and Latin American leaders late Friday, that the 13 men would
"stay in Europe with a temporary visa for 12 months" but
they "will not have the possibility of going to other
countries."
E.U.
foreign ministers have decided that none of the 13 should face arrest,
and they have received assurances from Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres that Israel would not seek their extradition, reported BBC’s
online news service.
The
men will also be entitled to reunification with their families at a
later date.
"Without
the European Union, the Church of the Nativity would still be under
siege today and Israeli troops would still be on the streets of
Bethlehem," said Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique, BBC
reported.
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