French police identify body as Israeli official

PARIS, Feb 24 (Reuters) French police said today a body found in a river in northern France is that of a missing Israeli defence ministry official.

DNA tests proved the dead man found in the River Seine near Rouen on Wednesday was David Dahan, head of the Israeli Defence Ministry Mission to Europe, a police official said.

Dahan disappeared from his Paris home on January. 22.

Police say they are treating the incident as a possible suicide and that Dahan had suffered depression in the past.

Dahan's wife and child live in Israel.

The Israeli Defence Ministry Mission buys military equipment in Europe. The mission used to be based in central Paris but was hit by a car bomb in 1982 and is now situated in a suburb.

REUTERS MS PM1715