Vanunu to move into east Jerusalem apartment

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Mordechai Vanunu is going to be leaving the Anglican church in Jerusalem where he has spent the last two years since his release from jail and will be moving into an apartment in east Jerusalem, the chief pastor of the Anglican community in Israel said Monday. The 51-year-old former nuclear technician, who converted to Christianity in the 1980s, has been closeted inside St. George's Cathedral in east Jerusalem since April 2004, when he was freed from jail after serving an 18-year prison sentence for revealing Israel's secret nuclear program. Vanunu will be leaving the church guest house as early as next week since he wanted a bigger place with more privacy, Bishop Riah Abu el-Assal said. Vanunu had seen several east Jerusalem flats that were for rent, and was likely to move by next week, he added. He is expected to share the apartment with a couple of local Arabs. The Bishop's decision to allow Vanunu to stay at the church for the last two years has drawn harsh criticism from other church officials. Over the last two years, Vanunu has repeatedly expressed his desire to leave the country, asserting that he had no more secrets to reveal. But Israel's Supreme Court recently extended restrictions preventing Vanunu from traveling abroad for a year, on the grounds that he still represents a threat to state security.