The Netherlands Foreign Ministry expressed “deep shock and horror” in a formal protest to Iraq today over the execution of a Dutch-born Jew, Leon Aaron-son, in Baghdad. The Foreign Ministry also voiced profound indignation and astonishment that although Aaronson was hanged nearly three months ago, the Iraqi authorities had insisted, until yesterday, that he was alive. This is “an unparalleled attitude which far exceeds the bounds of what is proper in normal diplomatic intercourse,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
The Iraqi Embassy informed Aaronson’s family for the first time yesterday of the execution that was reported by the Iraqi News Agency last November but thereafter denied by the Baghdad regime. The 40-year-old male nurse, who was also known as Alexander Haroun, was sentenced to death by an Iraqi military tribunal in October as an alleged spy for Israel.
The Iraqi authorities insisted that the sentence had not been carried out. But subsequent inquiries by the Dutch government were met by evasions and refusals to produce Aaronson to confirm that he was alive. Repeated requests by The Netherlands authorities to permit a representative of their Embassy in Baghdad to visit Aaronson in prison were spurned by the Iraqis, as were similar requests by the International Red Cross.
The Iraqis, who arrested Aaronson in a Kurdish village last March, claimed he was an Israeli citizen, a former soldier in the Israeli army and was gathering intelligence for Israel. They claimed, therefore, that the Dutch authorities had no standing in the matter. Although Aaronson lived in Israel briefly in the 1950s, he retained his Dutch citizenship. Israeli authorities denied that he was ever in the army or ever employed as an agent for Israel.
IRAQI ENVOY TO BE SUMMONED TO THE HAGUE
Meanwhile, the Dutch Charge d’Affaires in Baghdad, Gerben Meihuizen, has been called home for consultations. The Netherlands Foreign Minister, Max Van Der Stoel, who is presently on an official visit to Turkey, expressed shock over the execution and indicated that he would summon the Iraqi Ambassador to the Benelux countries–who resides in Brussels–to The Hague when he returns. Sources here said, however, that this does not necessarily mean that Holland will break diplomatic relations with Iraq.
Aaronson devoted his life to humanitarian work in underdeveloped nations of Africa and Asia. He worked with Albert Schweitzer in Lambarence and in Biafra, Gabon, India and Pakistan. He was on a medical mission to the Kurds in northern Iraq when he was arrested last March 24. His parents, wife and children live in Holland.
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