Vanunu gets 6-month jail term for foreign contacts

JERUSALEM, July 2 (Reuters) An Israeli court today sentenced Mordechai Vanunu, who in 2004 completed an 18-year prison term for spilling nuclear secrets, to six more months behind bars after he violated a ban on speaking to foreigners.

Israel has curbed Vanunu's movements and personal contacts since he left jail, arguing that he could divulge new details on his past work at the Dimona nuclear reactor. Vanunu denies that, saying he only wants to pursue a peaceful anti-nuclear campaign.

Jerusalem Magistrate's Court said in its ruling that it would hold off on jailing Vanunu to allow him to appeal.

Vanunu's lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

Convicted by the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court in April of violating the ban by speaking to foreign media, Vanunu, 52, said: ''All I want is to be free, to leave the country.'' The court found him guilty of giving a slew of interviews to international media outlets over the past three years.

''While returning a man to prison after he served 18 years there does not bring joy to anyone, there was no other choice but to take this step to make clear that the nation will defend its secrets and protect its security,'' prosecutor Dan Eldad said in a statement issued by the Justice Ministry.

In 1986, Vanunu was sentenced to 18 years behind bars after telling Britain's Sunday Times newspaper about his work as a technician at Dimona. The disclosures all but blew away the secrecy around an assumed Israeli atomic arsenal.

Since his release, Vanunu, a convert from Judaism to Christianity, has denied officials' charges that he has more classified information that he could divulge if allowed to emigrate.

REUTERS RN HT1755