Vanunu: I'm not a traitor
2004-04-19 11:06
Jerusalem - Mordechai Vanunu, who is to be freed on Wednesday after 18 years in prison for blowing the whistle on Israel's nuclear programme, remains unrepentant and does not regard himself as a traitor, according to new footage.
"I am neither a traitor nor a spy. I only wanted the world to know what was happening" at southern Israel's Dimona nuclear plant, Vanunu said during an interrogation by security service agents which is to be broadcast on Israeli television on Monday night.
"The whole world regards me as a hero and greatly appreciates what I did. It is only in Israel where thousands of people regard me as a traitor."
Vanunu, a former technician at Dimona, was sentenced in 1986 after leaking details of Israel's secret nuclear arsenal to Britain's Sunday Times newspaper.
Israeli agents lured Vanunu from London to Italy where he was kidnapped and brought to Israel. He was tried in secret and found guilty of "espionage".
He will be subjected to a series of restrictions after his release, including a ban on talking to foreigners or leaving the country.
Israel has firmly adhered to a policy of "nuclear ambiguity", never confirming or denying it possesses nuclear weapons. But foreign experts believe the Jewish state holds at least 200 atomic warheads.
- AFP