A Jewish fighter pilot in the South African Air Force was tortured and maimed by members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and others after he was shot down over Angola last December, according to information the Jewish Telegraphic Agency received Thursday.
The pilot, Col. Steven Levin, 41, had his left arm chopped off and his left eye burned out, according to Alan Goldberg, assistant editor of the South African Jewish News in Johannesburg, who telephoned JTA with the news.
The information could not immediately be confirmed independently.
Goldberg was at Johannesburg airport Thursday when Levin was returned, after being released by his captors. He was freed in exchange for two Cuban pilots serving in Angola who were shot down by the South Africans.
According to Goldberg, Levin was shot down while on a fighter mission over Angola, in support of rebels fighting the Marxist government of that black African nation. He said he was captured by Angolan and Cuban troops who are aiding the government and was turned over by them to the local PLO.
Goldberg said the pilot told him that the atrocities against him were committed by his Angolan. Cuban and PLO captors.
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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.
