Iceland is
considering granting citizenship to United States chess
legend Bobby Fischer, a parliamentary official said in
Reykjavik today.
It comes after Fischer’s friend Saemundur Palsson filed
a petition with the parliament which was discussed by
its general committee on Thursday.
It will be considered again at a meeting next week.
Gurun Ogmundsdottir, a member of the nine-member
Parliament General Committee, said that although there
were mixed feelings about granting Fischer citizenship,
the committee was likely to approve it.
“Usually these things are settled with unanimous vote,
but in this case a majority might suffice, and it seems
to me the majority is in favour of granting
citizenship,” Ogmundsdottir said.
The United States has been seeking Fischer, 61, for more
than a decade on charges of violating international
sanctions against the former Yugoslavia by playing chess
there in 1992.
The former chess champion has been detained in Tokyo
since he was arrested six months ago for trying to board
a plane to the Philippines with an invalid US passport.
Japan has ordered him to be deported to the United
States.
Iceland was the place of Fischer’s greatest chess
victory – a 1972 match against Boris Spassky, champion
of the then Soviet Union.
It agreed last year to allow Fischer into the country
without a passport and gave him a residence permit.
Under Icelandic law, a person must have lived in the
country for seven years and must hold a valid passport
to meet citizenship requirements.
But the parliament can grant exceptions and give
citizenship by decree. Last year, 17 athletes were
granted citizenship in this way.
“Fischer is a man who has painted himself into a corner
because of his peculiarities, and we should be the
country that accepts him,” Ogmundsdottir said.
Palsson, a former police officer who became acquainted
with Fischer when he was guarding him in Reykjavik in
1972 and has since become his close friend, said he was
confident Fischer would get Icelandic citizenship.
“Bobby Fischer tried to get residence permits in many
countries, but they all turned him down. I suggested he
come to Iceland, and when he found out that it was |
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