Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., October 14, 2007 , | | Israel Time: 02:34 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Print Edition Diplomacy Defense Arts & Leisure Real Estate Jewish World National Advertising Magazine Week's End Business Opinion Rosner's Domain Anglo File Books Travel

Captured IAF navigator Ron Arad, seen in a recently released video filmed by his captors. (Channel 10) del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 19:44 12/10/2007 Germany denies assassins' early release was part of deal with Iran By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press The decision to release early two men convicted in the 1992 assassination of four Iranian opposition figures in a Berlin restaurant is not related to the release of a German by Iran, the German government said Friday. One of the assassins, Kazem Darabi, was to be released in exchange for information on captured Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, under the terms of a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hezbollah in 2004. "There is no such arrangement with Iran," German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger told reporters. Advertisement Germany's federal prosecutor's office confirmed Thursday that Kazem Darabi, an Iranian, and Abbas Rhayel, a Lebanese - both sentenced to life in prison in 1997 - would be released and deported in December, citing a law that allows early release for foreigners who have served at least 15 years of their sentence. In the 2004 deal, 400 Palestinian terrorists were released, as well as other prisoners, including Mustafa Dirani and Sheikh Obeid, in exchange for the bodies of three Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed at Har Dov in 2000 as well as Elhanan Tannenbaum, an Israeli who had been abducted by Hezbollah four years earlier. The deal included another stage, in which Germany offered to release Darabi if Hezbollah offered information on Arad. Hezbollah failed to offer any information and the deal fell through. In an attempt to prevent Darabi's release, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but she told him the matter was being handled by the book, and he would be released after serving two thirds of his sentence. The pair were held in pretrial custody for roughly five years, which counts toward their overall time served. German media have frequently speculated that the government had struck a deal with the Iranian government in order to obtain the freedom of German citizen Donald Klein, who was arrested by Iran in November 2005 after entering the country's territorial waters during a sailing trip off the coast of neighboring United Arab Emirates. Klein said after his release six months ago that his capture had been an effort to force the German government to release Darabi. "I was a hostage who was to be exchanged," Klein told reporters at a news conference held after his release. "Iran wasn't interested in money." A Berlin court convicted Darabi and Rhayel of murder in the Sept. 17, 1992, killing of Iranian Kurdish dissident leader Sadiq Sarafkindi and three of his associates. The so-called Mykonos trial - named for the Berlin restaurant where the killings took place - raised an uproar when a German court ruled that Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and then-President Hashemi Rafsanjani had ordered the murders. Both countries withdrew their ambassadors at the time Bookmark to del.icio.us An exclusive drink We are more familiar with its stepson, gin, but jenever truly 'makes the heart rejoice'. Citizens unite Azulai's vital book focuses on photography in the contexts of occupation and exploitation.   1.   ISRAEL,ARREST ALL HIZBOLLAH AS TERRORISTS,SECURE PRISONER RELEASE 18:01  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 12/10/07   2.   germany has laws 18:13  |  Leona 12/10/07   3.   Let Him Go? 19:20  |  Joshua 12/10/07   4.   #1 a prophecy or a dream? 22:04  |  observer 12/10/07   5.   What is Israel`s interest... 00:30  |  Maureen Ann 13/10/07   6.   Maureen Ann 03:58  |  akiva (zionist) 13/10/07   7.   No Deal 09:00  |  Anton 13/10/07   8.   #6, akiva 09:02  |  Anton 13/10/07   9.   German discount for Iranian state terror 11:14  |  Jonathan S 13/10/07   10.   #9, Jonathan S. 12:21  |  Anton 13/10/07   11.   Anton,when`re you going to releae that innocent Lebanese student 13:35  |  Absolute Sweden 13/10/07   12.   Germany has laws and Hitler? 14:10  |  Petra 13/10/07   13.   The two standards of German laws 15:01  |  Jonathan S 13/10/07   14.   #11, Absolute Sweden 15:16  |  Anton 13/10/07   15.   What s Maureen Ann`s interest... 19:20  |  George 13/10/07   16.   To Anton, re: Absolute Sweden 19:22  |  Rory 13/10/07   17.   # 12 Yea, all european states have and they are quite 19:42  |  Kris 13/10/07   18.   Ron Arad and ONLY RON ARAD! 01:38  |  Neil Golan 14/10/07

Today Online U.S. grills Israel over road planned on Palestinian land Responses: 444 Orthodox rabbi beaten with baseball bat in New Jersey town Responses: 181 Dichter: Egypt capable of halting Gaza arms smuggling within day Responses: 152 Report: Holocaust denier Irving invited to Oxford debate Responses: 168 Benjamin Weinthal: Germany's secret business ties with Iran Responses: 127 Danny Rubenstein: Jewish settlement in E. J'lem is incitement Responses: 120 Rosner's Domain * State-religion American-style, a mirror image Israel's formulation * WTR: Where Should Jews Stand On Immigration? * Is it OK for Coulter to want Jews to become Christian? * Romney's position on attacking Iran? better ask his lawyers More Headlines 22:42 Report: IAF hit partly finished nuclear reactor in Syria 22:54 Egyptian border police kill African refugee trying to enter Israel 23:06 PA forces shoot dead two Palestinians, including 5-year-old boy 22:20 Yishai: Peace summit should only deal with economic issues 01:33 Israeli tourist held in Lebanon jail recounts two-week ordeal 01:14 Ultra-Orthodox set to protest against division of Jerusalem 21:43 Haaretz.com TV exclusive: Rare footage of the protests in Burma 22:32 Croatia defeats Israel 1-0 in crucial Euro 2008 qualifier 00:55 Man dies after rejecting transplant but saves three other lives 01:48 Chief Rabbi Amar allows Shabbat work at Ben-Gurion Airport 21:39 Report: High level N. Korean official leaves for visit to Syria 17:23 Rice urges Turkey to avoid major military offensive against Iraqi Kurds 17:30 Two motorists killed in traffic accidents over weekend Previous Editions Select Day 12 oct 11 oct 10 oct 09 oct 08 oct 07 oct 05 oct 04 oct 03 oct 02 oct 01 oct 30 sep

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