Travel ban on Vanunu extended

Nuclear scientist Mordechai Vanunu, convicted for revealing Israel's secret nuclear program, has been banned for another year from traveling outside Israel.

Israeli interior ministry officials said the travel ban on Vanunu has been extended until April 19, 2006, the BBC reported Tuesday.

Vanunu served 18 years in jail, most of it in solitary confinement. He was released in April 2004 under strict conditions.

Israel insists Vanunu still poses a security threat, the BBC said.

Vanunu has said his disclosure about Israel's nuclear secrets was aimed at averting a nuclear holocaust in the region. Many Israelis view him as a traitor, the report said.

Source: Big News Network