Chief of Staff Gen. Rafael Eitan has told the commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Gen. William Calloghan, that the interrogation of PLO prisoners and examination of captured PLO documents show that unnamed high UNIFIL officers had passed on to the PLO intelligence information about Israel and Israeli forces.
Callaghan has denied the allegation and expressed “frank surprise at your evaluation of these extremely primitive, inaccurate and amateur documents, and I find nothing in them to support your contention.” The exchange of letters between Eitan and Callaghan was released here this week.
In his letter, Eitan had enclosed copies of PLO intelligence reports quoting UNIFIL sources for estimates of Israeli troops strengths and Israeli intentions to attack. Eitan said the documents “bear witness to the continuous damage caused to Israel’s security by members of the international force.”
The letter also contained a report on the interrogation of a PLO captain in which he said UNIFIL officers had sold information and maps on Israel and Maj. Saad Haddad’s Christian militia forces.
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.
