No go for Vanunu

The Interior Ministy intends to extend a travel ban on convicted nuclear spy Mordechai Vanunu following his indictment last month for violating terms of his parole. Vanunu is forbidden from leaving Israel out of fears he could pass more information about Israel's atomic reactor. He was caught trying to enter the West Bank. Security officials have demanded his travel restriction be extended for years to keep him in the country, where it would be easier to monitor him and make sure he didn't delve any further atomic secrets. Vanunu, a Christian convert who has made no bones about his hatred of Israel, applied for a passport in recent days and has said that if given the opportunity to leave, he would do so "immediately and eternally." Third indictment this year The indictment, filed after police arrested Vanunu for the third time in less than a year, accused him of disclosing additional secret information about Israel's largest atomic reactor to foreign journalists. Vanunu completed an 18-year prison sentence last April for leaking photos and information from his job at Israel’s nuclear reactor in Dimona - the country's biggest - to Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper, leading experts to believe Israel had more than 100 nuclear weapons. Security officials maintain Vanunu has more secrets to tell, but he denies the charge. Vanunu violations Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said that since his release, Vanunu violated a series of bans imposed on him by the Shin Bet security service. He said Vanunu gave interviews and maintained contact with foreign journalists, where he revealed extensive information about his former job at the Dimona nuclear plant. The indictment said Vanunu named atomic materials he said were found in the reactor and explained how they were delivered there. He allegedly explained to reporters precisely how he gathered his material and photographs about the structure, which he gave to the Sunday Times. The indictment also cited an additional 21 occurrences that violated terms the Shin Bet security service set for Vanunu as conditions for his release in April 2004, namely his numerous attempts to leave the country. Vanunu was detained by police for several hours on Dec. 25, 2004 for trying to enter the Palestinian town of Bethlehem for Christmas. He was released hours later.

No go for Vanunu

You squeal, you deal. The interior ministry is expected to renew a travel ban on nuke whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu for violating restrictions imposed after his 18-year prison sentence.