The National Union of Seamen and the Merchant, Navy and Airline Officers Association, cabled President Nasser of Egypt today asking him to release Raphael Eylon, Israeli seaman-journalist who was taken off the Danish freighter Brigette Toft by the Egyptian authorities when it passed through the Suez Canal, and is being held under Egyptian arrest.
The plea to President Nasser said that the “arbitrary arrest is contrary to accepted freedom customarily afforded seafarers.” It is understood that the unions, which represent both ordinary seamen and officers, intervened at the request of the International Transport Workers Federation.
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