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Italy Keeps Silent on Fate of 13 Exiled Palestinians
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One
of the 13 Palestinian exiles
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ROME,
May 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Italian
government maintained a news blackout Tuesday, May 21, on the arrival
from Cyprus of three Palestinian exiles, saying secrecy was necessary
to ensure their safety.
"The
matter of the Palestinians is being followed with absolute discretion
and in secret, as it must be to guarantee the security" of the
European states hosting them and the men themselves, said Interior
Minister Claudio Scajola, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"Who
are the three Palestinians, when are they coming and where are they
going? Don't ask me these questions. I cannot answer you, for the
obvious security reasons," a ministry spokesman told AFP.
The
13 Palestinians, labeled "most wanted" terrorists by Israel,
are expected to fly to their host countries later Tuesday or
Wednesday.
The
men have been held under guard at a Cyprus hotel for the past 10 days
since their negotiated release from the Israeli siege of Bethlehem's
Church of the Nativity, where they had been trapped for weeks with
more than 200 other fighters and religious.
A
final deal on what countries would accept the men was announced by
Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique on Monday after tense
negotiations on their legal status.
Current
E.U. presidents Spain and Italy have agreed to accept three
Palestinians each, Greece and Ireland two each, while Portugal,
Belgium and Cyprus will take one each.
Italy
had initially been asked to host all 13 of the Palestinians, but Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi refused, saying this was a problem for the
E.U.
Given
the dearth of official information, Italian media speculated Tuesday
that the men could be housed in anything from a carabinieri station to
a secret service "safe house", or even by a religious
community.
Leading
daily newspaper, Corriere della Sera, reported that Italy would use a
plane from its own air force to bring the men from Cyprus, allowing
them to flown in secrecy to a military airport.
The
newspaper also said the Palestinians would be asked to sign a document
allowing for a change of identity on their arrival.
Their
presence in the country is being seen as an Italian gesture towards
Middle East peace, but prominent politicians like Gustavo Selva said
they would, at best, be tolerated.
"Without
any hypocrisy, and along with millions of Italians, I say that these
Palestinians are not welcome guests and that they must not be treated
as high-class tourists on taxpayers' money," said Selva, who
chairs the foreign affairs committee of Italy's lower house.
Meanwhile,
AFP reported that a Spanish military plane was due in Cyprus late
Tuesday to pick up the 12 Palestinians.
"We
expect the Spanish plane to arrive at Larnaca airport between 6 pm and
8 pm (1500-1700 GMT) and leave early Wednesday morning to disperse the
12 Palestinians," a civil aviation source told AFP.
One
of the 13 Palestinians who have been holed up at a seafront Cyprus
hotel for 11 days since leaving Bethlehem under an EU-brokered deal is
being left behind.
But
the Cypriot government denies it is being saddled with the
"worst" militant that no other country risks taking in
because of problems with his legal status.
"The
13th Palestinian has no special record and there is no question of him
being dumped here," an official source said. "Negotiations
will take a few days to find him a new country." The name of the
man being left behind has not been revealed.
One
of the 13 said Tuesday he was still in the dark about his final
destination. "I don't where I am going," shouted Abdullah
Daoud from his fourth-floor balcony to reporters on an adjacent roof.
Daoud,
41, was Bethlehem's intelligence chief for the Palestinian Authority
and is accused of harboring weapons and facilitating attacks against
Jewish settlers.
The
father-of-two said that when arriving at his E.U. destination he would
"live normally like everybody else."
Talks
are under way to reunite him with his family and Daoud confirmed he
would keep politically active, "but only within the law".
Spain's
Foreign Minister Josep Pique, whose country currently presides the
15-nation European Union, said the Spanish plane would first stop in
Athens from Cyprus, then in Rome and finally Madrid, from where four
of the Palestinians would be distributed to Portugal, Ireland and
Belgium.
"Our
new countries should have no fears. We are normal, civilized
people," said Abdullah Daoud, reported BBC’s online news
service.
"We
will respect the law in each of those states. They are democracies
which respect human rights. Why would we have anything against
them?" he told Britain's daily newspaper, the Guardian.
They
are expected to be designated by the E.U. as "free men on
humanitarian grounds" but are likely to be kept under police
surveillance. Permission to travel to other E.U. countries will not be
allowed, according to Josep Pique.
The
men will also be entitled to reunification with their families at a
later date, reported the BBC.
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