Israeli Authorities Release British Journalist

Israeli authorities last night released Peter Hounam after he had been detained in connection with work he was doing with Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, May 27).

Hounam, who was not charged with a crime, said that Israeli security agents interrogated him for more than four hours after he had been detained Wednesday on suspicion of espionage. 

The freelance journalist was in Israel working on a documentary on Vanunu, who was released from prison last month after serving 18 years for leaking information on Israel’s nuclear program.

Israel TV reported that the Shin Bet security service suspected that Vanunu had passed on additional nuclear secrets to Hounam, AP reported. Hounam, however, denied the allegations.

“All the information that Mordechai Vanunu knew about in 1986 was published at the time,” Hounam said. “He has no more secrets, and it’s time the authorities here realized that,” he added.

Hounam was expected to voluntarily leave Israel today (Aaron Keith Harris, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, May 28).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.