- WELLINGTON (AP) -- Two alleged
Israeli secret agents were given six-month prison terms in this country
Thursday for illegally trying to obtain a New Zealand passport.
-
- Prime Minister Helen Clark later said the case "seriously
strained relations" between Israel and New Zealand, and canceled planned
foreign ministry talks later this year.
-
- "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,"
she said.
-
- Urie Zoshe Kelman, 30, and Eli Cara, 50, both admitted
to the passport charges at an earlier hearing. They'd faced a maximum sentence
of five years.
-
- The two, reportedly linked to Israel's Mossad foreign
intelligence service, were arrested in March after they tried to collect
a passport in the name of a New Zealand citizen who is a wheelchair-bound
cerebral palsy victim.
-
- There was no reaction from the pair following their sentencing
in the Auckland High Court.
-
- Thursday's sentencing came after the two defendants made
a surprise plea change to guilty at their last court appearance on July
2.
-
- Two other men thought to be involved in the crime remain
at large, police said.
-
- Ms. Clark said that Israel had ignored requests made
three months ago for an explanation and an apology. As a result, she said
she would suspend high-level visits by New Zealand government officials
to Israel and refuse any request for Israel's President Moshe Katsav to
visit later this year when he is due to go to Australia.
-
- Any Israelis visiting New Zealand on government business
would have to apply for a visa. Approval for the appointment of a new Israeli
ambassador to New Zealand will also be delayed.
-
- "As will be apparent from these steps, the breach
of New Zealand laws and sovereignty by agents of the Israeli government
has seriously strained our relationship with Israel," Ms. Clark said
in a statement following the sentencing.
-
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