The Kenyan authorities have denied any involvement in the capture of the Kurdish rebel leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who is under arrest in Turkey and awaiting trial on terrorist charges. The Kenyan Foreign Minister, Bonaya Godana, this afternoon confirmed that the Kurdish leader had been sheltered by the Greek ambassador in Nairobi.
But when his presence in the Greek embassy there became known on Monday, Kenya had demanded his immediate departure. The Kenyan Foreign Minister said that the Kurdish leader left Nairobi by plane on Monday evening for an unknown destination.
The Kenyans say that they have asked Athens to recall their Ambassador. They also insist they have had no contact with Turkey over the affair. Protests are continuing across Europe after the capture of Mr. Ocalan. Kurdish activists have occupied Greek embassies and consulates in ten European cities in protest at the capture of their leader. Kenyan embassies in Bonn and Vienna and the United Nations building in Geneva have also been targetted.
Mr. Ocalan is wanted in Turkey on murder and terrorism charges related to the Kurdistan Workers Party's campaign for self rule. He has been on the run since last October and had spent the past 12 days in the Greek embassy in Nairobi before being captured on his way to the airport.
Ocalan's lawyers have accused Greece of handing him over to the Kenyan authorities. The Turkish Prime Minister said Ocalan was now in Turkey and would be brought before the courts there.
The protests are continuing despite reports that a leading Kurdish official had ordered demonstrators to call off their protests. Around 20 Kurdish demonstrators who occupied the Consulate General of Greece in Paris have been evacuated by one hundred members of the special police force.
And scuffles broke out near the Greek Embassy in London as police continued negotiating with up to 50 Kurdish protesters who stormed the building overnight. Other demonstrators who gathered a few hundred yards away threw bottles at police during a brief outbreak of trouble.
