Palestinian militants at Larnaca airport leaving for exile in EU countries.
Posted on 05/22/2002 7:35:24 AM PDT by Cinnamon Girl
Palestinian militants at Larnaca airport leaving for exile in EU countries.
Twelve Palestinian militants left Cyprus on Wednesday for European countries, beginning a life in exile under an agreement that ended nearly two weeks of squabbling among fractious European Union states.
A Spanish plane carrying nine of the 12 Palestinian militants landed at Athens International Airport at 11:50 A.M. (0850 GMT). Two of them, Mohammed Mahna and Mamduh Vardian, will remain in Greece and the other seven will go on to other countries.
Three of the men were flown from Cyprus to Italy on a private Italian plane. According to local Italian reports, the three are Ibrahim Abiath, Mohammed Salam and Hhaled Abu Najame. They will stay in Rome for a while until they are transferred to their final destination, which will remain secret.
All were released from Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity on May 10 after a 39-day standoff with IDF troops, who surrounded the church.
EU president Spain on Wednesday hailed Europe's role in easing Middle East tensions by accepting 13 Palestinian militants, but expressed disappointment that some nations had not taken their share of the responsibility.
Asked if prominent EU members such as France and Germany had ducked their responsibilities by refusing to accept any militants, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique said each country had done what it considered possible at the time.
"However, I must express my disappointment that certain countries often say we must do more to resolve the conflict, but when the time comes to take difficult decisions, they do not take them," Pique told Antena 3 television.
The Palestinians were brought to Larnaca airport in a police bus followed by a convoy of police cars, an ambulance and diplomatic vehicles. The bus moved slowly across the tarmac to two waiting aircraft. As it moved, the militants hung a Palestinian flag out of the window and used their fingers to flash a "V" sign for victory.
The men exchanged hugs and kisses as they were surrounded by armed police. As the militants boarded the aircraft, they turned on the stairs and waved enthusiastically at journalists.
Spain and Italy are taking three men each, Greece and Ireland two each and Portugal and Belgium one apiece. The thirteenth, Abdullah al-Kadr will stay in Cyprus, an EU candidate country.
An EU statement said the 12 would stay in their host nations "on a temporary basis and exclusively on humanitarian grounds."
"Each of the member states... shall provide the Palestinians it receives with a national permit to enter its territory and stay for a period of up to 12 months," implying that they would be authorized to travel beyond the host country's borders. EU officials did not say what would happen after that period.
Pique said Wednesday that the three Palestinian gunmen who were expected to arrive in Madrid could be granted a more permanent status in Spain after the year is up.
EU Middle East envoy Miguel Moratinos on Tuesday told Spanish radio station RAC 1 that the 13 will be able to work or study in the EU countries that accept them. "They won't be detained, not at all. They will have freedom, although they will be under a certain control," he said without elaborating.
A Portuguese Internal Administration Ministry official said the unidentified Palestinian bound for Portugal will not be confined within his new country but his movements will be subject to security guidelines that are being drawn up.
The Portuguese official said the Palestinians whereabouts will not be publicized, nor will the media be granted access to him. There is no fixed limit to his stay in Portugal, though initially it is for 12 months.
Since May 10, the 13 Palestinians have been living at the four-story Flamingo Beach Hotel in the southern beach resort of Larnaca under the round-the-clock watch of Cypriot anti-terrorist police.
Cyprus has insisted that they were not under detention, but the militants have been confined to their hotel.
They were among about 200 Palestinians, including several dozen gunmen, who ran into the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on April 2 to flee IDF troops advancing as part of a major offensive in the West Bank following a wave of suicide bombings in Israel.
Names of the 13 Palestinian deportees
Up to this point, the security establishment has refused to release details on the thirteen men, and Ha'aretz is publishing their names for the first time. Of the thirteen, ten are members of the Tanzim or Palestinian security forces and three are Hamas activists.
Both Hamas and Al-Aqsa are responsible for most of the 60 suicide bombings that killed dozens of Israelis since the current bout of violence began nearly 20 months ago.
1. Ibrahim Abiath, a.k.a. Abu Glarif, born 1973, active in the senior echelons of the Tanzim. Abiath is believed to be responsible for the murder of IDF officer Yehuda Edri and the killing of Avi Boaz.
2. Abdullah al-Kadr, born 1962, head of General Intelligence in Bethlehem. Israel claims al-Kadr worked hand-in-hand with the Tanzim. The Palestinians object to his deportation because he is a commander of Palestinian security forces who they say was not involved in terrorism.
3. Jihad Ja'ara, born 1971, a former member of the Tanzim and the Palestinian security forces. Ja'ara is believed to be involved in shooting attacks on Gilo, supplying weapons to the Tanzim and hiding wanted men.
4. Mohammed Sa'id Salam, born 1979, a resident of the Dehaisheh refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Salam is thought to have been an accomplice in the Beit Yisrael and Kiryat Yovel bombings.
5. Halled Abu Najama, born in 1968, General Intelligence activist from Dehaisheh.
6. Ahmed al-Hamamra, born in 1971, Tanzim activist from Bethlehem. Al-Hamamra is thought to have recruited a suicide bomber who carried out an attack and was planning on an attack at a Jerusalem mall.
7. Rami Kamel, born in 1980, Tanzim activist from Bethlehem who is thought to have taken part in shooting attacks.
8. Mohammed Mahna, born in 1980, General Intelligence activist from Bethlehem who is thought to have taken part in assembling explosive devices, as well as in various shooting attacks.
9. Khalil Nawara, born in 1977, Tanzim activist from Bethlehem who is thought to have taken part in shooting attacks.
10. Anan Tanja, born in 1979, Tanzim activist from Bethlehem who is thought to have smuggled weapons. He is also believed to have taken part in shooting attacks on the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo.
11. Ibrahim Abiath, born 1961, Abiath is considered a top activist in the military wing of Hamas.
12. Aziz Abiath, born in 1971, a Hamas activist from Bethlehem. Abiath is thought to have planned a suicide bombing at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, which was subsequently prevented.
13. Mamduh Vardian, born in 1979, a Hamas activist from Bethlehem. Vardian is believed to be a member of the Hamas military wing, to have taken part in various shooting attacks, and is thought to have placed explosive devices.
Anyway, when it was finally settled that these guys would be distributed among several different European countries, the PLO got into the act by claiming that, somehow, there had been a promise to keep them all together in a group (I cannot imagine Israel agreeing to that) and since it wasn't going to happen that way, the PLO wanted them all returned to Palestinian territory where they would be as free as the birds.
My own opinion is that Israel is not only going to be watching these guys, but also watching how the European govts act as parole officers; if the EU doesn't keep these guys on a leash, then Israel will have a Very Good excuse for going back to Selective Assassination as a policy.
or 
Sincerely,
The Whole Mossad Gang ;)
Hey, Europeans! Coming to a neighborhood near your, a European Union production........
Seems nobody knows how it happened.
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