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Comments (0)Germany is challenging a journalist’s request to declassify files pertaining to the 15 years Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann spent as a fugitive.
German journalist Gabriele Weber filed a claim with the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig requesting the 4,500 pages of secret documents on Eichmann to be released. A Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig is currently examining the Eichmann documents. The court is expected to rule soon on whether the German foreign intelligence agency, the BND, is justified in continuing to keep the files classified.
Eichmann was a leading architect of Hitler’s plans to murder Europe’s Jews.
The BND has argued that it must keep the documents secret in order to protect an unnamed foreign intelligence service; the service is believed to be Israel’s Mossad, Der Spiegel reported. The BND is concerned that if the information is released it will cause other nations to stop sharing intelligence with Germany.
The Mossad captured Eichmann in Buenos Aires in 1960. He was brought to Israel, where he was tried for committing crimes against humanity. He was found guilty and hanged.
Israel Signs Trade Agreement with S. America
Israel became the first country outside South America to sign a free trade agreement with Mercosur, a common market among four Latin American countries.
With hundreds of Israeli business leaders watching, Israeli President Shimon Peres and Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva announced that Brazil gave its final approval for the free trade agreement between Israel and Mercosur.
Mercosur (Mercadu Comun del Sur) is a regional trade agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. The bloc produces more than $3 trillion in gross domestic product and includes 270 million people.
The agreement was spurred by Peres’ visit to Brazil last fall and was given final approval right before Lula’s current visit to Israel. The agreement, which will go into effect in 30 days, is expected to increase Israel-Brazil trade relations by billions of dollars in sectors including agriculture, science, medicine and technology.
Israel and Brazil formerly had a surplus trade agreement. In 2008, trade between the two countries totaled $1.6 billion, of which $1.2 billion were exports from Israel, mostly chemicals and fertilizers used in Brazilian agriculture.
Venezuela, Colombia, Chile and Ecuador are in various stages of integration into Mercosur, with Venezuela on track for full admittance.
Indian Synagogue Guarded After Fake Terror Alert
Indian security took up positions around an ancient synagogue in Kochi following a terror alert that turned out to be a hoax.
The Paradesi Synagogue and other sensitive areas in the city were guarded over the weekend following a terrorist threat issued in a text message, reportedly by the terrorist organization that perpetrated the attacks on 10 sites in Mumbai in November 2008, including the Chabad Jewish center.
Indian police on Sunday arrested three college students for circulating the text message.
The Paradesi Synagogue is the oldest in the nations that previously made up the British Commonwealth. It was built in 1568 by the Kochi Jewish community. There are only about 10 Jews remaining in Kochi, according to reports.