Israeli arrest of UK reporter branded a farce
SHARMILA DEVI
Financial Times, 27 May 2004
Israel's arrest of the British Sunday Times journalist who broke the story of nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was described as a "farce" by his lawyer on Thursday.
Peter Hounam was released last night after being arrested on Wednesday in Tel Aviv. He was taken to his hotel in Jerusalem, where agents searched his room, then held in a Jerusalem prison. After his release Mr Hounam's lawyer said he planned to leave Israel this weekend.
An Israeli court imposed a gagging order preventing the release of any details about the arrest and possible charges against Mr Hounam. Officials said neither the justice nor foreign ministries was told of the arrest in advance. It appeared to be co-ordinated by the Defence Ministry and Shin Bet, the security service.
"The man was arrested without reason, out of a ceaseless security obsession with Vanunu," Avigdor Feldman, Mr Hounam's lawyer, told Army Radio. "The arrest is also strange in my eyes as one of the peaks of this farce [around the Vanunu case]."
Mr Vanunu was released last month. He served 18 years in prison for treason after revealing details about Israel's atomic secrets in 1986 to the Sunday Times and Mr Hounam. At that time, analysts were able to conclude that Israel had hundreds of nuclear weapons and pierce the country's policy of "nuclear ambiguity", by which it has never formally acknowledged possession of atomic warheads.
Mr Hounam has been in Israel to make a BBC documentary about Mr Vanunu. However, Mr Vanunu was released with severe restrictions, including a bar on giving interviews or meeting foreigners.
The Foreign Press Association in Israel expressed "astonishment" at Mr Hounam's arrest and said his rights had been denied. The BBC said it was "very concerned".
Yossi Sarid of the Yahad party said he hoped Shin Bet had good reason to arrest Mr Hounam. "It is known that the sudden arrest of a journalist is unaccepted in a democratic state." Ariel Sharon, Israeli prime minister, is set to present a reduced Gaza withdrawal plan to his cabinet on Sunday, officials said.
He appears to have backed away from presenting his plan to withdraw all 21 Jewish Gaza Strip settlements, fearing another political defeat. His cabinet will be asked to approve a first stage under which only three settlements would be dismantled.