Israel makes deal with ex-hostage

Officials are sceptical about Tannenbaum's story

Israeli prosecutors have signed a deal with a former Israeli hostage suspected of divulging state secrets to his Islamist captors, officials say.

Under the bargain, Elhanan Tannenbaum will tell investigators what information he gave to Hezbollah in Lebanon, in return for lesser charges.

Mr Tannenbaum was freed last month in a costly prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah.

An Israeli intelligence committee said the affair was one of Israel's gravest.

Mr Tannenbaum, a 57-year-old army reserve colonel, has previously denied disclosing secrets during his three years in captivity, saying he was kidnapped during a business deal which went wrong.

Hezbollah said Mr Tannenbaum was an agent of Israel's Mossad intelligence service.

Dubious account

The murky circumstances of Mr Tannenbaum's capture are the source of much speculation in Israel.

The deal will not be valid if he committed crimes against the state Jacob Galanti, Justice Ministry spokesman

Mr Tannenbaum reportedly said he had been taken to Beirut by force from a Gulf city - apparently Dubai - where he had travelled from Belgium.

But investigators do not believe his story.

State prosecutors have reportedly agreed not to try Mr Tannenbaum on charges of using a false passport, having contact with a foreign agent and entering an enemy country, in return for him telling the truth about what happened.

Mr Tannenbaum will be subjected to a lie-detector test to verify his answers.

"The deal will not be valid if he committed crimes against the state," said justice ministry spokesman Jacob Galanti.

Earlier this month, the Israeli Knesset (parliament) sub-committee on intelligence and secret services said the Tannenbaum affair was "one of the gravest in Israel's history".

Mr Tannenbaum was freed along with the bodies of three Israeli soldiers in exchange for 400 Palestinians and 59 dead fighters, mostly of Hezbollah, after months of painstaking negotiations.