Israel wants to block German release of Iranian terrorist: report

Oct 13, 2007, 9:48 GMT

Berlin - Israel is attempting to block the release of an Iranian terrorist convicted of a 1992 attack on Kurdish nationalists in a Berlin restaurant in the hope of pressuring Iran to provide information on an Israeli pilot who went missing over Lebanon 20 years ago, a news report said Saturday.

Der Spiegel magazine said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had phoned Chancellor Angela Merkel last week to press Israel's demand regarding Kazem Darabi, who was convicted of the murder of four Kurdish separatists on the orders of Tehran.

Merkel had responded that the matter was out of her hands, Der Spiegel said.

German justice authorities are planning to release Darabi, who was found guilty of planning the attack, in December after 15 years in jail.

Israel is seeking information on Ron Arad, who was lost over Lebanon in 1986, in the belief that the Hezbollah group in Lebanon, which is backed by Iran, could provide information on his fate.

Arad's daughter planned to meet German Attorney General Monika Harms this week to press the case for pressuring Iran, Der Spiegel said.

A Berlin court sentenced Darabi and three Lebanese involved in the attack, which took place in a Greek restaurant, to life in prison in April 1997.