| Submit your comments on this article |
| Middle East |
| Last Exiled Militant Leaves Cyprus |
| 2002-11-25 |
| NICOSIA, Cyprus- The last of a dozen Palestinians exiled to Cyprus in May to end a monthlong siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity was escorted Monday to Mauritania after months of searching for a willing host. Abdullah Daoud, 41, was sent to Mauritania because it was the only Arabic-speaking country willing to take him, said his wife, Kifah, speaking from her home in the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus. She said she had spoken with her husband by telephone before he left for the Muslim West African nation. "I asked him, 'Why Mauritania?'" she told The Associated Press. "He said, 'I prefer to be in an Arabic country and this is the only option.'" "No one wants me, at least, no one who who won't shoot me on site." Cypriot Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said earlier Monday that Daoud was sent to "a distant non-European country" where he would be joined by his family. Daoud was exiled to Cyprus in May with 12 other Palestinians under a deal worked out with the European Union. The plan was meant to be a temporary arrangement to end the siege at one of Christianity's holiest shrines - the church built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born. Israeli authorities consider Daoud to be the "most dangerous terrorist," a description that apparently hampered efforts to secure him asylum in any of the European countries that received the other Palestinians. They went to Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy after only brief stays on the Mediterranean island. I'm sure we'll hear from them again. Daoud was the Palestinian Authority's intelligence chief in Bethlehem when Israeli forces entered the West Bank earlier this year. Israel accuses him of organizing attacks on Israelis, making explosives, smuggling weapons and providing shelter to members of terrorist groups. Part of the job description. But in an interview with The Associated Press last month, Daoud denounced all terror attacks that result in the killing of civilians. He said he was so outraged by the Oct. 12 terror attack in the Indonesian tourist resort of Bali that killed nearly 200 people that "I decided to appeal to Arabs and Muslims everywhere to denounce the murder of so many innocent people." Asked about the suicide attacks by fellow Palestinians against Israeli civilians, Daoud said, "I am against operations that result in the killing of innocent people, and that includes the Sept. 11 attack against the Trade Center tower in New York." And we should believe you? |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #4 Most of the recent Mauritania articles on news.google.com are about the famine and drought there. Which segues nicely. |
| Posted by: Tripartite 2002-11-26 10:19:56 |
| #3 In Mauritania, he could BE the food. Seriously, when was the last time Mauritania was mentioned in the news? |
| Posted by: Chuck 2002-11-26 07:37:12 |
| #2 In Mauretania it could be the food... |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-11-25 17:46:48 |
| #1 This should be the last of this a-hole...a work accident or such oughtta do the trick, once he's out of the limelight |
| Posted by: Frank G 2002-11-25 17:01:22 |