(Jewish Chronicle-UK) Jonathan Kalmus - The British government is refusing to release documents which could shed light on the fate of three Israeli soldiers missing since 1982 because it says sensitive information could harm diplomatic relations with Syria. On June 11, 1982, three Israeli soldiers - Zachary Baumel, Yehuda Katz and Zvi Feldman - went missing after a battle with Syrian and Palestinian forces near the Lebanese village of Sultan Yaqub. Britain's ambassador to Syria, Ivor Lucas, filed a report to London on the day of the battle that Syrian forces reportedly paraded the captured soldiers through Damascus. In August, lawyers in Manchester acting for Zachary Baumel's mother Miriam submitted a Freedom of Information Act appeal against the Foreign Office over its refusal to release Lucas' report. Solicitor Daniel Berke said: "It is our view that the suggestion this 30-year-old document will cause some harm to Syrian-British relations is really quite a nonsense."
2010-12-20 08:25:57Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive