European anti-torture officials met Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan on a prison island Monday, the Anatolia news agency said, after Kurds began hunger strikes and rebels threatened to end their cease-fire. Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence for leading a 15-year war against Turkey, is the sole inmate on the island of Imrali. The war left 37,000 people dead. Dozens of Kurds started hunger strikes across Europe after Turkish authorities, citing bad weather, barred Ocalan’s lawyers from visiting the island since November. Ocalan’s rebels threatened last week to end their four-year cease-fire and demanded an end to his 11 weeks of isolation. The delegation from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture flew by helicopter to Imrali to meet the rebel leader, Anatolia reported. Council of Europe officials in Strasbourg could not confirm the visit. Full Story
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