Italian Premier: Ocalan refused an Italian choice for asylum

Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema said he had convinced a country ( he did not identify) to offer the leader of the Kurdistani Workers Party PKK the right to political asylum, but Ocalan refused this choice. In a statement to the German magazine Der Speigel D'Alema added that Ocalan had the opportunity to live safely away from publicity, but he chose to stay in Europe in order to continue his political career. D'Alema added that he does not want to mention the name of that country which agreed to give Ocalan sanctuary out of fears it would be victimized.