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Last update - 03:33 08/07/2008 Iran urges UN to help free kidnapped diplomats By Reuters Tags: Iran Iran called on the United Nations on Monday to help secure the release of four Iranians kidnapped in Lebanon more than quarter of a century ago, whom Tehran says are being held in Israel. Israel has denied holding the four, three diplomats and a journalist, who were seized north of Beirut by Lebanese Christian militiamen during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. They were traveling by car to the Lebanese capital from Syria. Christian warlords have said they were abducted by the Lebanese Forces militia then allied with Israel and killed shortly afterward. Israel has said they were killed by the militia. Advertisement But in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee repeated Tehran's long-standing assertion that they were handed over to Israel and remain imprisoned there. "No credible piece of evidence has ever been presented to indicate the martyrdom of the said Iranian officials to date," said the letter, written two days after the 26th anniversary of the abduction and obtained by Reuters. It urged Ban and the Security Council "to live up to their responsibilities under the U.N. charter without further delay by reacting to the illegal abduction and continued unlawful detention of Iranian diplomats and journalist by the Israeli regime, and by helping secure their safe and immediate release." Last week, Hezbollah group said that as part of a U.N.-mediated prisoner swap with Israel it expected to take place in mid-July, a German negotiator would receive a report from Israel on the fate of the four Iranians. The four are Seyyed Mohsen Mousavi, then charge d'affaires of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, military attache Ahmad Motevaselian, embassy technician Taghi Rastegar Moghadam and journalist Kazem Akhavan of the official news agency IRNA. Related articles: Israel signs swap deal, begins exhuming bodies of Hezbollah guerillas What does it mean? An outline of the prisoner exchange deal (2006 Bookmark to del.icio.us   Prisoner exchange Israel signs swap deal, begins exhuming bodies of Hezbollah guerillas. Provocative questions Gaydamak tells TAU student to 'shut up and go to hell' over Angola question.   1.   Iran: It Doesn`t Have To Be True To Be True 03:33  |  Tex 08/07/08   2.   I wish they WERE alive, so they could now be killed 03:38  |  McQueen 08/07/08   3.   They seem to learn the game of Western 04:24  |  Radibor 08/07/08   4.   Trade them for 25,000 Jews in Iran 05:18  |  Brad 08/07/08   5.   interesting timing dont you think? 06:07  |  vik 08/07/08   6.   Iranian Embassies Are Trojan Horses Of Terror Under This Regime 07:26  |  Lavi 08/07/08   7.   The Iranian Government is PATHETIC!! 07:38  |  Bobby the Jew 08/07/08   8.   Iran, crawl under a rock 08:24  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 08/07/08   9.   News Flash! 22:35  |  Yosemite 08/07/08

Read & React Bradley Burston: Fear of calling a terrorist a terrorist Responses: 109 Editorial: Hamas has kept its truce commitments thus far Responses: 67 Former water chief: Faucets could run dry this summer Responses: 54 U.S. exports to Iran shot up despite Bush sanction talk Responses: 31 Assad: Direct talks with Israel only after Bush leaves office Responses: 25 Rosner's Domain Iran's bomb-building potential more than doubled (WTR) New Poll: What should Obama do about Iraq? How good/bad is Obama's faith based initiative (WTR) On Israel-Diaspora relations, Israelis are quite clueless More Headlines 22:09 Court rejects appeal against Kuntar release as part of prisoner swap 22:50 EU, Blair: Checkpoints, Gaza blockade hindering Palestinian aid effort 22:03 PMO: We lack funds to protect all homes in Gaza rocket range 22:56 Rosner's Domain / Poll: Jews who are more religious likely to back McCain 21:13 U.S. imposes sanctions on Iran officials, companies aiding nuke program 19:20 Mortar shell hits W. Negev in fresh Gaza truce violation 17:30 IDF rebukes Egyptian soldiers over fatal cross-border manhunt 19:28 Olmert to be quizzed by police for third time in Talansky probe 20:32 Lebanon Central Bank chief slams U.S. lawsuit claiming banks funded Hezbollah 18:04 Ultra-Orthdox prohibition on entering Temple Mount splinters 19:19 Convicted terrorist released from jail due to declining health 17:12 Elie Wiesel testifies against man who allegedly accosted him 17:57 Syria says will send envoy to France in sign of renewed ties 21:44 Police officer moderately wounds truck robber in Negev Previous Editions Select Day 07 jul 06 jul 04 jul 03 jul 02 jul 01 jul 30 jun 29 jun 27 jun 26 jun 25 jun 24 jun

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