Dissatisfied with the lack of results to date, the wife and brother of missing Israeli air force navigator Ron Arad have gone abroad to appeal to various world leaders to renew efforts on his behalf.
Arad, shot down over Lebanon in 1986, is believed to be held by the Hamadei clan, Islamic fundamentalists who have seized hostages to secure the release of Abbas and Mohammed Hamadei, both serving long prison terms in Germany for international terrorism.
Arad’s wife, Tami, said she would appeal to the United Nations and other officials who negotiated the release of British and American hostages in Lebanon late last year, and had promised that they would turn their attention to her husband’s plight.
Of seven Israel Defense Force personnel still missing in Lebanon since 1982, he is the only one presumed to be alive.
Tami Arad and her brother-in-law visited Defense Minister Moshe Arens last week to see how they could refocus national attention on Arad’s situation. They reportedly suggested that Israel field a new team of hostage negotiators since the present one has accomplished little.
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