Word: ocalan
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...that point Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos decided to extend "humanitarian assistance" to Ocalan. As a historic foe of Turkey, Greece had long supported the Kurdish cause, but shied away from giving the guerrilla leader refugee status. Pangalos hoped to muster a European Union-wide agreement to grant him political asylum. Ocalan and two aides were spirited to Athens on Jan. 29. Once there, Greece offered Ocalan only a bleak choice of destinations: Algeria, Morocco, Tunis or Libya. "We refused," fumes a Greek close to Ocalan. "What did they think Ocalan was, a cargo of contraband cigarettes...
...subsequent odyssey failed to find Ocalan a haven, and on Feb. 2, he headed to Nairobi. "The understanding was that Kenya was just a temporary solution of two or three days," says Failos Kranidiotis, the guerrilla's Greek lawyer. After that, Ocalan was expected to move permanently to another African state. According to Kenyan officials, his unmarked jet landed in Nairobi at 11:33 p.m. Kenyan authorities say Greek Ambassador George Costoulas met the plane and whisked its passengers past immigration controls...
Holed up at the ambassador's villa, Ocalan was soon joined by three female followers and a team of lawyers. The activity raised suspicions and, according to Greek sources, attracted the attention of FBI agents in Nairobi investigating last year's U.S. embassy bombing. On Feb. 12 four Greek intelligence agents told Ocalan to "move out as soon as possible because his whereabouts had been spotted." They offered to hide him at a local Greek Orthodox church or fly him to another state. "Ocalan turned down all the options," recounts Kranidiotis, who was with him in Nairobi, "but the officers...
...next day, Kenyan officials appeared at the residence and demanded Ocalan's departure. When the ambassador called Athens for instructions, the response was blunt: "Boot him out," said Pangalos. By nightfall, after a final telephone call from Pangalos, Ocalan had agreed to leave on the understanding that he would be transported to the Netherlands under Greek protection...
...Once we exited the residency door, I knew something was wrong," says Melsa Deniz, 19, one of Ocalan's female aides. "Twenty black men emerged from three jeeps and two station wagons. Five of them forced Ocalan into a jeep but did not allow us to travel with him. The last time I saw him was when his jeep turned into a building saying POLICE STATION." By 11:07 p.m. a blindfolded, handcuffed and drugged Ocalan was being escorted into a private jet bound for Turkey...