Six other Israelis are still imprisoned in Syrian jails, Yoseph Shemesh, one of the men returned here yesterday in the prisoner exchange between Syria and Israel, declared today.
Of the four Israelis given back by the Syrian jailers yesterday, Mr. Shemesh, who is 43 and had been imprisoned by the Syrians for 12 years, was the only one who seemed today to be able to face Israeli journalists. Two of the four were taken immediately after brief medical examinations to mental hospitals. The fourth of the men, Shlomo Yifrach, is still being examined today.
All four had suffered severe mental disturbances, physicians said. Mr. Shemesh said that Avraham Daskal, one Israeli prisoner reported by the Syrians to have died three years ago, had committed suicide after being tortured in his Syrian prison. Mr. Shemesh said that he was sure there were still six more Israelis, two of them Arabs, in Syrian jails now. The Syrians denied they were holding any more Israelis.
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