Holland refuses Ocalan in Rotterdam

Holland has refused to permit leader of the Kurdistani Workers Party, Abdullah Ocalan, to land at Rotterdam airport on Sunday night.

On Monday, Dutch radio quoted Ocalan's lawyer as saying that his client wanted to visit Holland in order to ask the "International arbitration court in the Hague" to mediate between the Kurds and Turkey, which seeks to put him on trial.

Dutch radio added that Ocalan headed for the Greek capital, Athens after he was not permitted to land at the Dutch airport.

On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said he thought Ocalan had returned to Italy, but the Italian government denied the Turkish prime minister's allegations.

Meanwhile, the Greek Foreign Ministry on Monday denied rumors that Ocalan headed for Greece after the Dutch government refused to permit his plane to land in its territories. The spokesman for the Greek Foreign Ministry strongly denied reports that Ocalan had tried to land in Athens or that he had asked the Greek authorities to permit him to enter the country.

The spokesman added that Greece does not welcome Ocalan in the country because he will "not serve the Kurdish cause or the human rights question in Turkey."