Egypt returned the bodies of 39 Israeli Yom Kippur War dead with full military honors in the Sinai buffer zone today after Israel agreed to the release of 20 Egyptian nationals imprisoned for security reasons and other conditions demanded by Cairo.
Defense Minister Shimon Peres who was present with other Israeli dignitaries to receive the bodies, assured the country earlier that no prisoners convicted of terrorist or sabotage offenses were released. The 20 freed men were identified as Bedouins of Egyptian nationality who had carried out intelligence activities for Egypt. Israeli authorities denied that Archbishop Hillarion Capucci, serving a 12-year sentence for smuggling arms to terrorists in Israel, was included in the Egyptian demands.
Although Egypt had promised long ago that no conditions would be attached to the return of bodies, Israel accepted Cairo’s terms because of the deep emotions it feels toward its fallen soldiers. Israel claims that 17-18 of its men still listed as missing in Sinai remain to be accounted for.
In addition to freeing the Bedouins, Israel agreed to Egypt’s demand that it permit an Egyptian convoy to carry supplies to Bedouin flood victims in northern Sinai; that it allow the opening of a Red Crescent branch in El Arish; and that it transfer Egyptian-made religious objects to mosques and churches in the Israel-occupied areas of Sinai.
EGYPTIANS TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE
The Egyptians took full advantage of the occasion to demonstrate their “humane” attitude for the scores of foreign newsmen and television cameras arrayed on both sides of the line. The body return was carried out on the Blooza-Kantara road in the United Nations buffer zone that separates the Israeli and Egyptian limited forces zones east of the Suez Canal. An Egyptian guard of honor, brass band and bugle corps accompanied a motorcade of ten trucks, escorted by military police on red motorcycles.
The drums rolled and bugles blared as Egyptian soldiers serving as pall-bearers–four to a coffin–carried the 39 caskets from the trucks and deposited them in the middle of the road. Israeli officers approached, headed by the Chief Military Chaplain, Gen. Rabbi Mordechai Firon and his deputy, Gen. Rabbi Gad Navon. They draped each coffin with an Israeli flag and pall-bearers carried them to nine waiting trucks.
Afterwards, the Israeli officers exchanged salutes and shook hands with the senior Egyptian officer, Gen. Ayub, Gen. Ensio Sillasvuo, commander of the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF), who was present, remarked that this was a sad moment that should remind everyone of the need for peace in this region. The returned bodies were taken to the Institute for Forensic Medicine for identification before permanent re-burial in Israel.
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