World

Kurd Guerrilla Chief Flees Italy

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 17, 1999 / 9:55 AM EST / CBS

Kurd guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan, who stood at the center of two separate international rows pitting Turkey against both Syria and Italy, has reportedly fled from Rome to an unknown location.

Branded a terrorist by Ankara, the Kurd rebel known to his followers as "Apo" is still being sought by Turkish authorities who blame him for the deaths of 29,000 people in 14 years of separatist violence.

The Italian government, which freed Ocalan despite Turkish demands for his extradition, declared the case closed on Sunday, saying it had dealt with a tricky matter in exemplary fashion.

Turkey slammed Rome for allowing Ocalan to leave the country a free man and vowed to pursue the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) chief wherever he went.

"An ugly story has finished," Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini told la Repubblica newspaper. "And when all is said and done, it has finished in the best way possible."

"We did our duty because we respected the constitution, the law, international treaties and our conscience," he said.

"Maybe not everyone can say that."

The government said on Saturday that Ocalan, who was arrested on a German warrant on arrival from Moscow on November 12 but freed after Bonn withdrew its extradition bid for fear of inflaming its big Turk and Kurd communities, had left Italy.

Media reports said he had returned to Moscow but Russian officials have stressed that the guerrilla leader would not be a welcome guest.

Italy had incensed Turkey by refusing its requests to send Ocalan home to face trial for treason because its constitution bans returning suspects who could face the death penalty.

Turkey reacted with fresh ire on Sunday, accusing Italy directly of allowing the rebel chief to flee.

"It is seen Italian officials failed to solve the problem they created and did not behave according to the requirements of law and justice," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Turkey's new Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, confirmed in office on Sunday, declared Ankara would not give up efforts to try Ocalan.

"It has become clear that the head of the bloody terrorist organization will not be able to be sheltered anywhere," he told reporters. "Turkey will continue its determined stance. The head of the terrorists will not be able to escape justice."

Although the Ocalan case strained relations between NATO allies Turkey and Italy, Italian Defence Minister Carlo Scognamiglio said Rome had "kept its nerve" and acted correctly.

He told reporters the government had "given an international lesson in how a state respects national and international rules and laws as well as treaties."

He added: "(Italy) has resolved a very difficult case... in a fashion that everyone considers excellent."

Dini rebuffed Turkey's criticism, saying Ankara's refusal to cooperatwas the reason why Italy had to give up hope of bringing Ocalan before an international tribunal.

"After collaboration broke down with the European country which had asked for his extradition and on the basis of which we arrested him, we explored the possibility of bringing a trial in Europe before an international or national tribunal," he said.

Political sources said earlier this month Ocalan could be tried in Italy under a 1977 European convention on the suppression of terrorism whereby one signatory state could try a suspect charged in another signatory state.

"Without the contribution of the Turkish authorities, this was not possible on the basis of international conventions."

"There was absolutely none of that collaboration. Since the accusations came from Turkey, we had to abandon the hypothesis of bringing him to trial and stop things," Dini said.

Turkey had opposed an international tribunal because it feared such a trial would be transformed into a trial for the country's war on separatists and bestow a measure of political legitimacy to a man Ankara views as a terrorist murderer.

With Ocalan free, Italy unwilling to grant asylum to a man Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema called a "terrorist" and scant hope of a trial, his departure wrapped things up neatly.

"I'm satisfied," Dini said. "This solution was the only one possible if there was to be no extradition or trial."

Ocalan was satisfied, too. La Stampa daily quoted him as telling his lawyers before he left: "I'm going because I can see there's nothing more to be done here...But I don't regret coming to Rome. In the end, it's been positive."

Before Ocalan was detected in Italy, he stood at the center of a heated war of words between Turkey and Syria. Ankara had accused Damascus of harboring the Kurd rebel and supporting his cause in order to pressure Turkey into concessions in a longstanding territorial dispute. Syria denied the charges and promised steps designed to address Turkey's concerns.