MIDDLE EAST: The four-engine British airforce Hercules banked and turned onto the flight path over the Cypriot coast and touched down at the far end of the runway.
As it taxied towards the terminal, the transport aircraft was met by a police jeep and escorted to a reception area near the entrance to the immigration hall.
Among those assembled to greet the "very important passengers" were an ambulance and two medics in white coats, policemen in blue and members of the crack police commando unit in camouflage backed up by an armoured personnel carrier.
A step-ladder dropped from the front of the plane and out came British RAF personnel who had arranged for the flight from Tel Aviv to Larnaca.
A few minutes later the rear hatch of the cargo hold was let down and the first of Cyprus's 13 guests, a slender, bearded man, walked out and shook hands warmly with his hosts.
Another 11 filed out and boarded a white minibus before Mr Jihad Jaara was brought out on a wheeled stretcher and loaded into an ambulance bound for Larnaca hospital.
The first stage in the exile of the 13 men had gone smoothly. Tourists arriving on a regular flight gaped at the armoured car and the clutch of policemen wondering what was happening.
Twelve of the 13, regarded by Israel as "senior terrorists" and by the Palestinians as resistance heroes, were taken to the Flamingo Hotel on Larnaca's palm studded beach boulevard.
They will stay there until final arrangements are made for them to be accepted by several host countries.
So far Greece and Portugal have made formal offers, while Canada has indicated a willingness to take some.
The hotel's manager, Mr Antonis Josephides, said they would be under police supervision and would not receive visitors.
However, the Cypriot authorities insisted that they are guests not prisoners and say family members might be permitted to visit.
At Larnaca hospital Mr Jaara is being treated for a broken leg caused by a bullet. Cyprus, which has good relations with the Palestinian Authority and Israel and sees itself as a bridge between Europe and the Middle East, agreed to give the men temporary refuge until European foreign ministers meet on Monday and decide which countries will host the men and under what conditions.
