/ 16 February 1999

HOSTAGE DRAMA AFTER OCALAN VANISHES

TWO staff were taken hostage in the Kenyan embassy in Bonn on Tuesday, where Kurdish protestors stormed the building in a show of support for Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan. Kurdish protestors also stormed Greek embassies across Europe from London to Moscow on Tuesday.The Kurds targetted the Kenyan embassy in Germany after Greece admitted on Tuesday it had sheltered Ocalan at its ambassador’s residence in Nairobi but said he had left the embassy on Monday for the airport.Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit claimed on Tuesday that Ocalan was snared in an undercover operation and has been taken to Turkey where he will stand trial. Meanwhile Kurdish leaders have called on their followers to leave the invaded embassies. Individual protesters have set themselves alight, underlining the passion they have for their cause. Earlier reports said that Ocalan had been handed over to Kenyan authorities by the Greek embassy.