WASHINGTON, July 16 (UPI) -- Insider notes for United Press International for July 16:
It has been a bad week for Mossad, Israel's vaunted intelligence agency. After Uriel Zoshe Kelman and Eli Cara each received six months jail sentences in the High Court at Auckland for fraudulently attempting to obtain a New Zealand passport, New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark said, "The New Zealand Government views the act carried out by the Israeli intelligence agents as not only utterly unacceptable but also a breach of New Zealand sovereignty and international law." Backing her harsh words with deeds, Clark noted that New Zealand was suspending high-level visits with Israel and that approval for appointment of the new Israeli ambassador would be delayed and accreditation visits to Israel halted. Furthermore, any approach by Israel for President Moshe Katsav to visit New Zealand in August in conjunction with a proposed visit to Australia would be declined. All Israelis visiting New Zealand in any official government capacity would be required to apply for visas, and Foreign Ministry consultations with Israel, scheduled for later this year, are also suspended. After the pair serves their sentences they will be deported.
The case is reverberating across the Tasman Sea, with Australia stepping up its investigation of a suspected Israeli spy ring following the Israelis' convictions. Cara spent significant time in Australia. A house Cara used in Turramurra was raided shortly before he was taken into detention on the North Island in Auckland in March 2003. Federal authorities said two other men escaped and the house was deserted. Philip Ruddock, a spokesman for the attorney general, said, "It was clear that people had left in a fair hurry." Ruddock said that regarding Israeli spies there had been "investigations on this side of the Tasman, and they are continuing." Stuart Grieve, Cara's defense lawyer, said that Cara had a travel business linked to the Israel-based agency Eastward Bound, which promoted eco-tourism in Australia and New Zealand, but a court search of company and title records found that Cara had no listed business interests in Sydney. Cara had traveled from Australia to New Zealand 24 times over the last few years. Grieve noted that his clients and their families would be at risk for the rest of their lives from terrorists targeting anyone connected with Mossad.
Half a world away, Switzerland's Deputy Federal Prosecutor Felix Baenziger has demanded a 15-month sentence for Mossad spy Issac Bental, who admitted installing illegal wiretap equipment, but his defense lawyers said he should be acquitted because he was trying to prevent terror attacks. Bental's lawyers agreed with the prosecution that Bental was in a team of five Mossad agents who were apprehended while installing surveillance equipment in the basement of an apartment building near Bern in February 1998 to monitor Lebanese Abdallah el-Zein. Local police released the other four agents after questioning. Bental was transferred to the federal police because he had a diplomatic bag containing the tools being used. After 65 days in jail, which would be counted as time served, Bental was released on $2 million bail on the assurances of the Israeli government that he would return for trial. Bental said the three charges against him ware true -- that he acted illegally for a foreign country, conducted political espionage and repeatedly used false foreign identity documents. Defense attorney Ralph Zloczower called his client "a simple agent, without any noteworthy special functions or position."
Qatari-Saudi relations, frostily correct at the best of times, may be set to plunge to a new low when Michael Moore's controversial documentary "Fahrenheit 9-11" premieres in Doha on July 16. The Qatar-Bahrain Cinema Co. and the Qatar Cinema and Film Distribution Co. will be screening it at multiple theaters across the capital, having been passed for screening by the authorities without cuts. Among the documentary's more controversial passages are multiple scenes documenting the cozy relationship between the Saudi ruling family and the family of both President George W. Bush, and his father, the former President Bush. The new cinema complex in Doha's City Center will be screening the film six times daily. QCFDC General Manager A. Mohsen Mokadem said that the local authorities had cleared the documentary without any censorship, adding, "I had watched the movie while in Canada, and the print that is being released here is absolutely the same. It is a very good movie that runs for approximately 2½ hours." Curious Qataris can also view the film at The Mall and The Landmark Mall cinemaplexes and the Gulf Cinema.
