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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| WND : American captured by Syria 'still alive after 23 years' |
| 2006-11-20 |
| JERUSALEM – The parents of a Brooklyn-born Israeli soldier who was captured by Syrian forces 23 years ago solemnly marked the birthday of their missing son this weekend, petitioning the Israeli government to do more to work for the release of the soldier, whom they believe is still alive. Zachary Baumel, captured in Lebanon in 1982, turned 46 on Friday, surpassing the milestone at which he has spent more time in captivity than in freedom if he is indeed still alive. "We are just trying to bring Zachary home," said Yona Baumel, Zachary's father. "I just want my son back. I wish the Israeli government would do more but so far they have largely done nothing." As WND reported last year, new information was released indicating Baumel is being held in Syria. Baumel, a dual American-Israeli citizen, was taken along with two Israeli members of his tank crew, Yehuda Katz and Tzvi Feldman, during Israel's foray in the Lebanon War. All three were photographed in Damascus on the day of their capture, and several eyewitnesses, including a Time magazine reporter, said they watched a parade in which the tank and crew were led through a major street in Damascus and flaunted to cheering crowds. The ceremony was the last occasion the soldiers were seen publicly. In March 2005, Yona Baumel told WND that sources he cultivated in Syria told him they visited his son that year at a Syrian military installation just north of the border with Iraq. Baumel was also given a book from a confidante of a family in Syria that contains coded messages Baumel says could have been written only by his son. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #1 Let us suppose he IS alive. The Syrians will never admit it for the simple fact that it would make them look bad. I don't think Isreal has the leadership to go to war over this. Baumel was also given a book from a confidante of a family in Syria that contains coded messages Baumel says could have been written only by his son. How would a Syrian family get ahold of encoded messages by a 23-year POW? If anything this sounds more like somebody leaking false info to provoke Isreal in some way. |
| Posted by: Charles 2006-11-20 12:27 |