Kurd Suicide Bomber Dies Amid Row With Italy

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

Kurd Suicide Bomber Dies Amid Row With Italy 
01:38 p.m Nov 17, 1998 Eastern 

By Alistair Bell 

ANKARA (Reuters) - A Kurdish guerrilla killed herself and wounded six
people in a suicide bomb attack in Turkey Tuesday as Kurds across
Europe staged protests linked to the detention in Rome of guerrilla
leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Apparent Italian reluctance to hand over Ocalan for trial on charges
of high treason has outraged Turkey's government and businesses.

Strident press attacks accusing Italy of perfidy have stirred popular
anger toward Rome, and business groups have warned of a possible
boycott of Italian goods.

Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, visiting Vienna, said his country
could guarantee a ``free and fair'' trial for the man Turkey holds
responsible for more than 29,000 deaths.

But Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema said a pledge from Ocalan
to work to halt ``terrorism'' made it easier to grant his request for
political asylum, pledging that Rome would not bow to undue pressure
to hand him over.

Italy's constitution prevents the extradition of suspects to countries
such as Turkey where the death penalty is in force.

Turkish security officials have warned that Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) fighters could attempt spectacular attacks to protest at the
seizure of Ocalan, who has spearheaded a 14-year campaign for
self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurd southeast, at Rome airport last
week.

``A woman terrorist set off a bomb strapped to her body as she was
crossing the road outside the gendarmerie headquarters around 09:00
a.m. (0700 GMT),'' said Tacettin Ozeren, local governor of Yuksekova
town in southeast Turkey where the bomb attack took place.

Four officers and two passers-by were wounded.

The PKK, seeking Kurdish self-rule, had not staged a suicide bombing
since a string of attacks in 1996 killed several policemen, soldiers
and guerrillas.

Tuesday's attack was part of a wave of protests throughout Europe at
the arrest of Ocalan, seized trying to enter Italy on a false
passport. He is now the focus of an acrimonious wrangle between Italy
and Turkey, which demands he be handed over.

Two Kurds suffered serious burns after dousing themselves with petrol
and setting themselves ablaze in central Moscow. The men unfurled a
banner and burst into flames outside Russia's State Duma lower house
of parliament, police said.

Police put the fires out and took the men to hospital.

German police said about 4,000 Kurds protested in Bonn against the
possible extradition of Ocalan with about 50 of them on hunger
strike. They also gathered in Vienna where Demirel was meeting
Austrian President Thomas Klestil.

In Rome, 4,000 Kurd supporters from all over Europe have gathered to
hold what has been a largely a peaceful vigil to press for Ocalan's
release.

Women wearing multi-colored traditional dress and wrapped in shawls
and scarves mingled with the young who danced to Kurdish music, many
holding the PKK flag and banners.

Hundreds of jailed PKK rebels in jails across Turkey have begun hunger
strikes in a show of loyalty for ``Apo,'' as Ocalan is popularly
known. Since Turkey forced Syria to oust Ocalan from Damascus last
month, 27 inmates have set fire to themselves, and 11 died of burns.

In Istanbul, Turkish police arrested some 15 Kurdish demonstrators who
had briefly taken refuge in an Italian-run church from a crowd of
angry passers-by.

Witnesses said the protesters handed themselves over to police at the
red-brick San Antonio di Padua church in the heart of Istanbul after a
short spell inside the building.

``Damn the PKK, Damn Italy,'' chanted a crowd of Turks outside the
church, a relic of the days when the city had a large Christian
population.

Housewives gathered in front of a Benetton clothes shop in Istanbul to
urge a boycott on Italian-made goods, while a furniture store nearby
splashed a sign reading ``We Don't Sell Italian Furniture'' across its
windows in red letters.

Turkey's cabinet met Tuesday to discuss a repeal of capital
punishment, but concluded that a series of censure motions against the
fragile coalition meant the chances of passing legislation were
slight.
List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl