Feb 7, 2001

ROME (AP) -- Imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has warned that his
execution would plunge Turkey into a "new Kosovo," a newspaper reported Wednesday
based on what it claimed was his prison diary.

The Rome-based daily La Repubblica published what it said were passages covering April
1999-January 2001 that were secretly obtained by Ocalan's lawyers from the prison island of
Imrali.

They include personal observations -- like shaving his mustache to ease breathing difficulties
caused by asthma -- to Turkish politics.

"If they hang me, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit must understand what is at stake. Turkey
can become like Kosovo," La Repubblica quoted him as writing on May 10, 1999.

Ocalan's lawyers in Turkey denied that he kept a prison diary. Passing on information from
the rebel leader would be a crime in Turkey.

But one of the lawyers, Dogan Erbas, said the notes could have been compiled from
interviews they have given to journalists. And an official with the Kurdistan Information
Office in Rome said she was sure the notes were authentic.

"Those were definitely his (Ocalan's) words," said Hevi Dilara. "We in the Kurdish
community have known about his health."

According to the excerpts, Ocalan increasingly complains of health problems such as failing
eyesight. He also says authorities have reduced the time for his weekly meetings with
lawyers and that he is allowed to read fewer newspapers.

Ocalan, who was captured in 1999, led the Kurdistan Workers' Party guerrilla group in its
battle for Kurdish autonomy in southeast Turkey. He was sentenced to death by hanging for
treason and separatism for leading the insurgency, which has claimed 37,000 lives. No date
has been set for Ocalan's execution.

In the excerpts published Wednesday, Ocalan mentions his reading preferences -- Goethe
and Shakespeare -- and compares himself to Napoleon.

"Lately I've been reading a history of Napoleon. There are some incredible analogies with
my situation. Both in action and in spirit, even if the ideology is different. He was also
imprisoned on an island, St. Helena, and he was also abandoned by Europe."
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com