Nahum Manbar, a businessman sentenced in 1998 for selling military equipment to Iran, is due to appear before the Israel Prison Service parole board Wednesday to request that his 16-year sentence be cut by a third, a prison service spokesman said yesterday. If his request is granted, Manbar, who was convicted of treason, is expected to go free in the next few days.

The security establishment will not oppose Manbar's release, Channel 2 reported.

The prison service said Manbar has not posed any disciplinary problems and that he has gone on furlough several times while serving his sentence. Manbar has been held in Nitzan Prison in Ramle for the past eight years.

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Manbar, who was born on Kibbutz Givat Haim, near Hadera, fled Israel in the 1980s after being convicted of fraud. He closed several weapons deals with Iran while living in Poland and made plans for larger deals, like selling Iran Soviet-made tanks, that were never carried out.

The arms deals brought Manbar into contact with those responsible for Iran's missile and chemical weapons programs. After several meetings with them, primarily in Vienna, Manbar agreed to supply Iran with more than 120tons of chemical material, which could be used to make chemical weapons. All told, his deals with Iran are said to have made Manbar tens of millions of dollars.

At the same time, apparently to provide himself with an alibi, Manbar told the Shin Bet security service he was trying to get information about missing Israeli navigator Ron Arad. However, the security forces warned him to stop making contact with Iran.