Israel may seek extradition of Palestinian militants in 2003
Khaled Diab
May 2002
The militants
were granted asylum as part of the agreement to end the siege of the Church of
the Nativity in Bethlehem. Spain and Italy are taking three men each, Greece
and Ireland two each and Portugal and Belgium one apiece. One remains in
Larnaca.
However, their stay in the EU could be relatively
short-lived, as a senior diplomat in Brussels confirmed last night (22 May): “After
the year is up, Israel may decide to seek their extradition,” he said.
His statement contradicted earlier assurances given by
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to the EU's foreign policy chief Javier
Solana that Israel would make no such request.
The diplomat pointed out that, although Israel would
honour the deal for the time being, any future government may not feel bound by
a deal Israel regards as a temporary measure. “In 12 months from now the
situation will be different in Israel. There will probably be a new government
with a new approach,” he said.
His comment was an apparent reference to Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon’s struggle to keep his crumbling coalition together and
stave off an ultra-right-wing offensive within his own party led by arch-hawk
Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Palestinians see the Church of the Nativity deal
as permanently excluding any possibility of a transfer of the 13 men to Israel.
”Israel may someday ask for their extradition, but the
important thing is the European reaction. I expect the EU will reject such a
request,” said Chawki Armali, the Palestinian Authority's representative in
Brussels.
Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Piqué yesterday denied
that the two weeks of negotiations among EU states to decide who would take in
the militants had revealed divisions within Europe over Middle East policy.
However, when he was asked during an interview for
Spain’s Antena 3 station whether big member states such as France and Germany
had ducked their responsibilities by refusing to accept any of the men, Piqué
admitted: “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.”
This article appeared in the 23 May 2002 issue
of European Voice. ©2002 The Economist
Group
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