Nuke whistleblower Vanunu appeals to leave Israel

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L03648707.htm

JERUSALEM, June 3 (Reuters) - Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu asked Israel's top court on Thursday to let him leave the country, saying restrictions he has been under since ending an 18-year prison term in April were unjustified.

"The Association of Civil Rights in Israel filed my High Court petition," Vanunu told Reuters by telephone. He said the petition argued that he posed no threat to national security and should be allowed to leave Israel immediately.

Vanunu was jailed for treason in 1986 after discussing his work at the Dimona atomic reactor with a British newspaper. His revelations to the Sunday Times led independent experts to conclude Israel had amassed between 100 and 200 nuclear weapons.

A Christian convert, Vanunu has been living in a Jerusalem church since his release on April 21. He has said he wants to settle in the United States or Europe.

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