Four leaders of the Jewish Agency have been released from Latrun prison, where they have been since June 29, it was reported tonight.
It was impossible to secure immediate confirmation of the report.
Earlier British troops and police had evacuated the building of the Jewish Agency, ending an occupation of twelve days. The curfew which has been in force in the area surrounding the building was lifted.
When the troops and police cleared the Agency building, Dr. Emil Shmorak, one of the unarrested members of the executive, told reporters that the authorities had invited the Agency staff to return to the building while it was still occupied, but they refused. He said that as yet it is impossible to estimate the damages or ascertain what documents were missing.
The Palestine Arab Higher Committee today handed High Commissioner Sir Alan G. Cunningham a note demanding the immediate dissolution of the Jewish Agency. The Arabs made their request on the basis of alleged “incriminating evidence available of the Jewish Agency’s direct relations with Jewish terrorists and its activities in arms smuggling and illegal immigration.”
The Haganah’s secret radio, “Voice of Israel,” denied that the resistance movement was controlled by the Agency. It declared that the Haganah had a “secret and independent command,” and that “as long as there is a power preventing our redemption, a nation opposing our will to build up Palestine, there will be a resistance movement.”
A police communique announced tonight that Jacob Abraham Levi, who is suspected of being a member of the Stern Group, has been arrested in Sarafand, following his discharge from the British Army.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
