Knesset member indicted for Syria trip

NAZARETH, Israel, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Israeli authorities Sunday charged a member of the Knesset for heading a delegation of Druse leaders on a visit to Syria.

Member of Knesset Said Nafa was indicted by the Nazareth District Court for having contacts with foreign agents and visiting an enemy country in connection with the 2007 trip, when he led a group of 282 people on a bus journey from Israel to Jordan and then to Syria, where they stayed for a week, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The newspaper said Nafa and the Israeli delegation visited Druse holy sites, meeting with Syrian Vice President Farouk a-Shara and at least one other member of the Syrian government. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the delegation also met with Talal Naji, deputy head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and visited the offices of Hamas leader Khaled Meshal.

Prosecutors say then-Israeli Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit denied permission for the group to visit Syria, but they went anyway, the Post said.

MK Ahmed Tibi told the newspaper the indictment was politically motivated.