BRUSSELS, May 13: The 13 Palestinians idling in Cyprus after the siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem could be given refugee status in Europe, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique said on Monday.

“They would have some sort of status — refugee, displaced person, asylum-seeker,” Pique told reporters after chairing a meeting of EU foreign ministers that delayed by one week a decision on the fate of the militants.

Israel regards the 13 as terrorism suspects, but Pique said that “as far as we know, there is no charge against them that would justify their detention” once they settle on European soil.

“What these people have to do is to respect the law of their host country,” he said, speaking in Spanish with simultaneous translation into English.

Six of the 15 EU member states declared on Monday that they would be willing to accept some if not all of the 13, and Pique indicated that others may follow in the coming days.

According to European diplomatic sources, the six are Spain, which holds the rotating EU presidency through to June, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Ireland and Portugal.—AFP