The three-day siege at the Greek embassy in London by Kurdish protesters ended peacefully yesterday with the arrest of 77 people and the release of their Greek hostage.
The protesters, including at least two women, were arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and were being held for questioning at two London police stations last night.
As news of the end of the siege reached the 600 protesters outside the embassy, community leaders said they would continue their protest until the 77 members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were released from police custody.
One of the community leaders, Mr Zinar Hogir, of the Kurdistan Information Centre, said the protesters had been "99 per cent" assured by police they would not be arrested but that deal had not been honoured.
On the broader issue of Kurdish independence he said the protests would continue to ensure the PKK leader, Mr Abdullah Ocalan, received a fair trial and an independent state was established for the Kurdish people.
The solicitor Ms Gareth Peirce is representing several of the protesters. Under the terms of the PTA they can be held without charge for up to 7 days. Shortly after 2 p.m. the first to emerge was the Greek hostage, Mr Babis Patsouris, a caretaker at the embassy, described by the Kurdish protesters as their "guest". Then, one by one, the protesters walked down the steps of the embassy, some carrying pictures of Mr Ocalan while others gave the V-sign for victory. In a calm and orderly operation the protesters were then handcuffed and taken to Charing Cross and Paddington Green police stations in five coaches.
Speaking after the siege had ended, the Labour MP Ms Ann Clwyd, who took part in negotiations with the protesters, called on the British government to guarantee that Mr Ocalan had access to his lawyers. At a Scotland Yard press conference, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Paul Condon, denied the police had struck a deal with the protesters to end the siege. "No deal was done. We made it absolutely clear people in the premises would be arrested. The only way they would come out was under arrest," he said. There were demands about the circumstances of the ending of the siege and their treatment once they had left the embassy, he explained, "and we have honoured that promise".
Shortly before the Kurdish protesters left the embassy, Mr Mark Campbell, a former freelance photographer from Belfast who is now the co-ordinator of the Halkevi Kurdish and Turkish Community Centre in London, said "the psychological warfare pursued by the Turkish regime is like the war in Ireland. The truth never came out about what was going on there. Why is the Kurdish question any different to the Irish or Palestinian question?"
Asked if the PKK had killed people during its struggle for independence, Mr Campbell told The Irish Times: "Well, that happens in war. The Kurds should not be so friendly. They should stop talking about peace and increase the war and they should target economic and military installations in Turkey."