With the siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity over, the European Union must now decide where to put the 13 deported Palestinians and what their legal status will be.
EU envoy Miguel Moratinos said Saturday in Cyprus the Palestinians were free men. “I want to underline this point,'' Moratinos said. “They are not prisoners. They are not detained people,'' he said after a meeting with senior Cypriot officials. But it was not clear he was speaking for individual governments that may end up taking the men. According to AP, the 13 were flown Friday to Cyprus, where they will stay until the EU decides where to put them.
Adding to the dilemma, several of the countries mentioned by Italian officials on Thursday as possible destinations said Friday they hadn't been asked, among them Ireland, Canada, Luxembourg and Austria.
By late Friday, though, four states had emerged as the likely destinations: Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, with Greece saying it would take a few and that it had no plans to imprison any of them.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Friday he was pleased that a European solution had been found and that the siege had ended. “We cannot consider keeping them in a state of detention,'' Berlusconi said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres issued a reminder Friday that Israel reserved the right to seek their extradition - especially if they are allowed to go free. He said though that the extradition demand “doesn't require right now any further actions.''
Several possible destinations have been mentioned, including convents, centers belonging to non-governmental organizations or missionary facilities. The offer of one such facility in Turin, Italy, to house the men sparked the initial presumption that Italy would take all 13.
The Italians were evaluating the “island hypothesis'' as well as finding a secure, private residence on the mainland, said Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Alfredo Mantica. “The possibility of an island is to give a balance between a certain level of freedom and a certain level of control,'' Mantica told Radio Vatican.
However, Italian Justice Minister Roberto Castelli ruled out putting the Palestinians on two islands off Tuscany - Pianosa and Asinara - where Mafia convicts used to be incarcerated.
Castelli mentioned the possibility that the men might face prosecution in Europe if someone were to file a complaint with police, which in Italy would automatically require prosecutors to investigate.
Meanwhile, the German Foreign Ministry said none of the Palestinians flown to Cyprus would come directly to Germany. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told Bild am Sonntag that "none of the 13 Palestinians who are now in Cyprus, will come to Germany. We have not been asked so far." (Albawaba.com)
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