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Wounded Israeli Pilot Visited by Red Cross in Egyptian Hospital

October 29, 1969
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A downed Israeli pilot held captive by the Egyptians for two months had his first visit from a representative of the International Red Cross in Cairo yesterday, it was learned here. The information confirmed a report that appeared in the Cairo daily newspaper A1 Ahram which had been greeted with some skepticism here.

Capt. Giora Rom, who bailed out of his jet after it was hit by anti-aircraft fire over the Suez Canal last August, was visited in Maadi Hospital near Cairo by the chief Red Cross representative in the city. Marcel Boisard. He was reported to have a compound fracture of the right thigh bone and a simple fracture of the left upper arm. The visit lasted almost 90 minutes and was held in the presence of others according to international law.

Israel had accused Egypt of violating the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war by denying Capt. Rom visitors over a prolonged period. Earlier. Egyptian authorities permitted a Red Cross representative to visit another captured Israeli pilot, Maj. Nissim Ashkenazi, who had been held incommunicado for a number of weeks.

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