Vanunu under house arrest

2004-12-25 18:23

Jerusalem - Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was freed by Israeli police on Saturday after spending several hours in custody, a police spokesperson said.

Gil Kleiman said that as a condition of his release Vanunu is being confined to his Jerusalem residence for five days.

Vanunu was detained at a police checkpoint late on Friday as he tried to travel from Jerusalem to the West Bank town of Bethlehem to attend midnight Mass.

Vanunu, a Jewish convert to Christianity, was freed from an Israeli prison in April after completing an 18-year sentence for revealing secrets of Israel's nuclear programme to the Sunday Times newspaper in London.

Under the terms of his release, the former technician at the Israeli nuclear facility in the Negev desert town of Dimona was barred from leaving Israeli territory and contacting foreigners.

Since his release from prison in April, Vanunu has been living at a Jerusalem Church compound.

Last month he was briefly detained by police on suspicion of revealing classified information before being freed. Vanunu denied those charges, saying he has no more secrets to disclose.

- AP