DUSSELDORF (AP) - Muhammed Metin Kaplan (see photo), a German-based Islamic militant sought by Turkey on treason charges, was taken into custody yesterday, hours after a court approved his extradition, an official said. Police detained Kaplan at an Internet cafe in Cologne and were taking him to the airport in Dusseldorf with the aim of extraditing him later yesterday, city spokeswoman Inge Schuermann told AP. However, his extradition to Turkey could still be held up if he immediately appeals the decision by the Cologne administrative court. Kaplan, 51, formally has two weeks to appeal.

PARIS (AFP) - Three-quarters of the French are opposed to Turkey entering the European Union and would vote against it in a referendum, according to an opinion poll yesterday in the Liberation newspaper. Taken after the European Commission’s recommendation last week in favor of accession talks, the survey revealed France to be the most firmly hostile to Turkish membership of all the current 25 member states, the newspaper said. Overall, 75.3 percent of those asked would vote no in a referendum, the poll found.

Germany’s environmental Greens would probably approve a sale of German army tanks to Turkey, despite previous objections over human rights concerns, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said yesterday. Fischer, the dominant figure in the Greens, the junior coalition partner of Germany’s ruling Social Democrats, said the government had made no decision on a sale but noted that conditions had changed since the Greens opposed a previous tank deal with Turkey in 1999. “At that time we took a decision in the light of reality and we would take account of changed realities if there are requests about this,” he told reporters. (Reuters)

The body of an 11-year-old German girl who disappeared while on holiday in southern Turkey was discovered 24 hours after she was reported missing, Turkish media reported yesterday. She had been strangled, they said. There were no indications of sexual assault. Lisa Eder had been on holiday with her mother Petra, 41, in the seaside resort town of Alanya, popular with German tourists. Her body was found on scrubland near the town. She was reported missing Sunday after she left her hotel to visit a nearby shop catering for tourists. (AFP)

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern praised his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as a strong reformer yesterday as he backed the country’s campaign to join the EU. “There are some countries in Europe who always get into a sweat about this issue. Ireland is not one of them,” Ahern told a business breakfast while on a one-day visit to Singapore. “I think Turkey will join.” “I think Prime Minister Erdogan is a reformist. He is moving ahead with the pace. He knows that this cannot be short-term. He knows what’s most important for the Turkish people is that a positive decision is made in December,” he said. (AFP)