EU Decides Fate of Palestinian Militants

EU ambassadors last week agreed in principle on the legal status for the 13 Palestinian militants recently exiled from Bethlehem in the West Bank. But it remained unclear what the next step should be.

There was initially some confusion on who had decided what with whom, and where the gunmen would finally go. Some of the countries involved cautioned that legal technicalities remained before the deal could be completed.

But an agreement was finally reached on the weekend, after intense negotiations by Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Piqué.

"Temporary refugees"

Under the compromise deal, six EU countries will take the men, the Spanish EU presidency said in a statement: Spain (3), Italy (3), Greece (2), Ireland (2), Portugal (1) and Belgium (1).

One Palestinian will remain in the EU candidate country Cyprus, where the men are currently confined to a seaside hotel.

The Spanish EU presidency said all of the Palestinians will have a status of "temporary refugee" for a 6 to 12 month period. The EU Foreign Ministers had agreed that the 13 Palestinians would enjoy protection "on humanitarian grounds" and be entitled to reunite with their families at a later date.

It added that each country will apply its own laws to the men, who are on Israel's most wanted list but have no charges pending against them in Europe. Each refugee is likely to face different restrictions on his movement. "If Israel seeks to extradite any of them, all the governments of the EU will adopt a common position on the matter," Spain said.

Particular individuals have yet to be assigned to the individual countries. There are also still some discussions on details such as transport.

Suicide bombings continue

The Palestinian gunmen were among those who had taken refuge in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity during Israel's recent West Bank offensive launched after a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings. The Spanish Presidency remarked that "without the intervention of 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".

Meanwhile in Israel, a Palestinian blew himself up near a police patrol in northern Israel on Monday, but killed only himself, police said. It was the second suicide bombing in less than 24 hours. Another suicide bomber blew himself up on Sunday, killing three people in the coastal city of Netanya.

The blasts have raised fears of a new wave of suicide bombings after a lull in violence that world leaders have been trying to build on to revive peace efforts.