Israel accused Iraq, in a document officially circulated at the UN today, of still holding under arrest “many Jews” accused of spying and of responsibility for the recent torture deaths of five imprisoned Jews. The charges were contained in a letter from Israel’s chief representative to the UN, Ambassador Yosef Tekoah, to Ambassador Armand Berard, of France, February president of the Security Council. Mr. Tekoah protested the recent “atrocious crime repeated in Baghdad”–the trial, execution and public display of eight alleged spies for Israel–as well as the January execution of 14 Iraqis, nine of them Jews, on the same charges. “The continuation of these arrests, trials and executions constitutes a danger to peace in the region,” Mr. Tekoah’s letter said. “The international community must not, by its toleration, suffer this situation to continue. There is no recourse for the Jews of Iraq except to be allowed to leave the country,” Mr. Tekoah said.
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