Yuval Arad, daughter of captive IAF navigator Ron Arad and his brother, Chen, have left for Germany Monday, in an attempt to stop the release of Kazem Darabi – a senior Iranian intelligence officer being held in Germany.
The Iranian officer is considered the last bargaining chip available in order to get any information about Ron Arad's fate.
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| Report: Israeli captives transferred to Iran / Roee Nahmias |
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London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat reports Sunday that Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were transferred to Iran shortly after they were kidnapped by Hizbullah last summer; says deal for release of their remains is in the works |
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The two will try to have the decision to release Darabi, who was convicted along with Lebanese Abbas Ra'il of killing Iranian dissidents in Germany in 1991, revoked.
"Yuval and I are going to meet with high-ranking officials in the German administration. We want to hear their position on the matter and we want them to hear ours," Chen Arad told Yedioth Ahronoth.
"We expect their full cooperation and we want to be kept updated of any new developments," he added.
The Arad family refused to comment on media reports saying the that Darabi's release is part of a German-Iranian deal, under which Darabi would be released in exchange for kidnapped soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev's remains.
Regev and Goldwasser were kidnapped by Hizbullah on the eve of the Second Lebanon War.
According to a report in the London-based Arab language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat, the two were transferred to Iran shortly after the kidnapping in a special operation overseen by a senior Revolutionary Guard commander.
German officials denied the reports alleging a deal has been struck between Berlin and Tehran. Darabi and Ra'il, said the German prosecution, will be paroled in December, after serving two-thirds of their 23 years jail sentence.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert contacted German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week and tried to persuade her to annul the pending parole, but was turned down since the matter was "at the German judicial system's sole discretion."
The decision, said sources in the German justice department, was made "in accordance with the proper legal criteria." According to reports, in exchange for the two's release, Iran will free a German national who was arrested in Tehran 16 months ago.
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