Israeli killer on leave from jail drives death car

JERUSALEM, Jan 18 (Reuters) A short prison furlough for an Israeli murderer ended in the death of his wife and young son when a car driven by the convict collided with another vehicle, police said today.

The prisoner, Ami Popper, and three other people were injured in the head-on crash yesterday on a desert highway 50 km north of the Red Sea resort of Eilat.

In 1990, Popper, a 21-year-old discharged soldier, forced Palestinian labourers to line up at a bus stop in central Israel and shot dead seven of them with an automatic rifle.

He initially told investigators he was distraught over a failed romance and then claimed to have been raped by Arabs at the age of 12, an account no one could confirm.

Serving a 40-year term for the murders, Popper has been granted furloughs from jail for the past 10 years in line with a policy of allowing eligible inmates brief breaks from incarceration, a prison official told Israel Radio.

Popper was on 48-hour leave when the crash occurred.

Reuters SHB VV1516