Ocalan plea over Galatasaray match

Training: Ocalan's favourite team prepare for showdown

Kurdish rebel leader and ardent Galatasaray fan Abdullah Ocalan has asked for a television to be placed in his cell so that he can watch his team play Arsenal in the Uefa Cup final on Wednesday night.

The rebel leader, who has been condemned to death in Turkey for treason, has been following the Istanbul team's European progress on a small radio, according to the newspaper, Hurriyet.

Earlier this week the paper quoted a lawyer for the guerrilla chief as saying:"Ocalan has been a devoted Galatasaray fan since childhood. We have applied to the Justice Ministry for a television several times, but they haven't even considered it."

Ocalan has been sentenced to death by Turkey

"At least they should consider it for just this one match."

Last year Ocalan was held responsible for the deaths of 30,000 people since his Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) began its armed campaign for Kurdish home rule in 1984.

He is now awaiting a European rights court ruling on the verdict.

Turkish Cup champions Galatasaray topped the domestic league for the fourth year in a row on Sunday and now hope to record an historic treble by beating Arsenal in the Uefa Cup final in Copenhagen.

Clashes broke out ahead of the Uefa Cup final

English and Turkish football fans clashed in the Danish capital ahead of the match.

Several hundred rival supporters attacked each other with bottles in the city's main square before police intervened to restore calm.

A police spokesman said five people were injured, including an Arsenal fan who was stabbed.

Danish police have mounted a big security operation for the match, following clashes in Istanbul last month, when two Leeds United fans were stabbed to death.