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Katzrin teens stumbled across Syrian dog tags, hope to find soldier or family By Jack Khoury Who is the Syrian soldier by the name of Mahmoud Ben Ali, serial number 16241, and what was his fate? The Israel Defense Forces, the Defense Ministry and perhaps also Syrian intelligence, may be called upon to answer this question soon, after Ben Ali's dog tag was found recently by two teens from the Golan Heights town of Katzrin. The tag, which also notes his Muslim religion and his blood type, A+ RH, were found by Elik Goliandrin, a 10th-grader at the Branco Weiss high school in Bnei Yehuda in the Golan Heights, and Oleg Drutzik, 16, a student at the Naval School in Acre. The two, who are close friends, were hiking in the fields around Katzrin on Saturday. "Suddenly we came across a bunker in the bushes and decided to go inside," Goliandrin told Haaretz. He said was clear to them no one had been at the site since it was abandoned. In addition to old medical supplies, canteens and helmets in the bunker, which apparently dates to the Six-Day War, the teenagers found the tag, with both parts intact. We brought them home and cleaned them and saw the Arabic writing on them, which we didn't understand." On Sunday Goliandrin told his art teacher, Nava Galanti, about the tag, which he brought to school. "We were talking about art and Elik loves to deal with items relating to the army and to study them," said Galanti. During the conversation, he brought up the finding of the dog tag. Galanti said it was clearly different from Israel Defense Forces tags, and the Arabic writing revealed it as belonging a Syrian soldier. Advertisement "We are very curious to know who this man was, Drutzik said. "Clearly, we don't have the tools to pursue this," he said, adding, "I really hope that someone will manage to locate this soldier or his relatives, because this could be the last item that survives from him. My friend and I would be very happy to give them the tags." A former senior IDF officer who fought in the Golan in the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War told Haaretz that the tag could be of great interest the Syrians if they still considered this soldier missing in action. The officer said it was likely from the boys' description of the find that it has lain there since the Six-Day War. "In the Yom Kippur War the Syrians did not hold bunkers, and certainly not in the southern Golan," he said. The officer added that the Syrians follow the Israeli press, and that they could request the tag. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Building Google How an Israeli hi-tech guru inspired Google's 'magic formula'. La femme Tzipi Colleagues regale the Sunday Times with stories of Livni's days on a Mossad hit team.   1.   Humanitarian gesture 06:09  |  idf_sergeant 31/01/07   2.   hidden treasures in the Golan 07:27  |  David G 31/01/07   3.   are you serious? 07:33  |  Vitaliy 31/01/07   4.   Soldier 08:00  |  Walid 31/01/07   5.   To #1 08:29  |  Northern Resident 31/01/07   6.   #4 08:30  |  ??? 31/01/07   7.   And the world press always vilifies Israelis 10:15  |  Michael 31/01/07   8.   HOPE his family can have closure and peace 10:25  |  PETER SM 31/01/07   9.   HUMANITARIAN GESTURE 10:49  |  Abraham 31/01/07   10.   my guess 14:09  |  GK 31/01/07   11.   #8, peter sm, almost had me 14:12  |  VIPER 31/01/07   12.   # 11 VIPER 17:05  |  Richard S. 31/01/07   13.   An opportunity for kindness 18:20  |  Matthew Shulman 31/01/07   14.   #10 is right 19:00  |  Nasir 31/01/07   15.   Peter SM 20:25  |  Mark Lincoln 31/01/07   16.   BenAli is probably now a Sherut owner in Haifa 20:59  |  Alan 31/01/07   17.   Found Dog Tags 22:15  |  Shimon List 31/01/07   18.   Shimon List 00:08  |  Phinias Whoppy 01/02/07   19.   just flatten them on the railroad tracks 01:15  |  dave 01/02/07   20.   to #1 paranoia 01:30  |  cristina 01/02/07   21.   # 11. 01:41  |  Wahine 01/02/07   22.   #20-- using this for political gain 03:35  |  idf_sergeant 01/02/07   23.   cristina presumes so much... 03:40  |  idf_sergeant 01/02/07   24.   to idf soldier 05:41  |  cristina 01/02/07   25.   Shimon List 08:57  |  Johnny 01/02/07   26.   #12 richard 11:22  |  VIPER 01/02/07

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