Most Palestinians Stranded On Ferry To Head For Syria Other Arab Nations Refuse To Accept Any Of Those Deported By Libya

Some 590 of the 650 Palestinians deported by Libya and stranded aboard a ferry in the Mediterranean will head for Syria on Friday, but the fate of those not accepted is still up in the air.

Cyprus will not take the rest, Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides said Thursday after meeting with Syrian diplomats.

Libya ordered 30,000 Palestinians to leave in August to demonstrate Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s opposition to peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians.

Most Arab countries have refused to receive the people expelled by Libya, saying they should be accommodated in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip where the Palestinians have gained autonomy under 1993 peace accords.

About 900 other Palestinian deportees are stuck in a desert tent camp on the Libyan-Egyptian border, living in conditions that U.N. refugee spokesman Rupert Colville called “very grim.” He said sanitary conditions were abysmal and nearly 70 young children were ill.

None of the Palestinians in the squalid camp have valid documents to go anywhere else, Colville said, adding that about 50 more people in several families arrived Thursday.

Syria reluctantly agreed Wednesday to take in 590 Palestinians stranded aboard the Countess M, anchored off Cyprus’ southern port of Larnaca, who have Syrian travel documents or citizenship.

The vessel’s Greek captain, George Kolivas, has said he set sail for Syria on Friday after because Libyans assured him that all the passengers would be allowed to disembark.

The Palestinians’ top diplomat in Cyprus, Samir Abu Ghazaleh, met Thursday with government officials to discuss the fate of the 69 people Syria will not accommodate.

Many of them are dependents of Syrian nationals or Syria-based Palestinians, Abu Ghazaleh said. He gave lists of families where mothers would be allowed to go to Syria, but not their husband or children.

“We’re trying to prevent the separation of families,” he said. He said there were also about a dozen Palestinians with Lebanese travel documents whom the Beirut government will not accept.

Cypriot authorities refused to allow reporters aboard the ferry Thursday. But newsmen circling near the boat said a young, screaming Palestinian tried to jump overboard before he was restrained by other passengers.

A crewman told reporters through a bullhorn that there was “much tension” among the Palestinians.