Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 2, 1990 TAG: 9007020101
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: MEGIDDO, ISRAEL LENGTH: Short
Freeing Arab prisoners is traditional on religious holidays. But the timing of the release raised speculation it may be related to a report that a Western hostage may be freed in Lebanon or to Israel's efforts to make peace with Palestinians.
At Megiddo prison in northern Israel - site of the biblical Armageddon - the first dozen of so Arabs were released in the early afternoon. Many flashed "V for victory" signs from the bus windows.
By Sunday night, the army said 416 Palestinian inmates had been freed from facilities in the Gaza Strip, the Ketziot detention camp and Megiddo.
In the hostage report from Tehran, The Sunday Correspondent of London quoted Sayed Hossein Mosavian, an Iranian Foreign Ministry official, as saying a Western hostage could be freed soon without any concession by the West.
In Iran, Interior Minister Abdollah Nouri said Sunday Western nations sending aid for victims of the June 21 earthquake that left 40,000 dead should not expect political benefits.
Asked whether Iran wanted better relations with the United States, one of the countries to send aid, Nouri said, "No."
- Associated Press
by CNB