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Israel spy Jonathan Pollard 'to be freed' by US | Israel spy Jonathan Pollard 'to be freed' by US |
(35 minutes later) | |
An American jailed for 30 years for spying for Israel is to be freed in November after the US granted his parole, according to his lawyers. | An American jailed for 30 years for spying for Israel is to be freed in November after the US granted his parole, according to his lawyers. |
Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy intelligence analyst, was jailed for life in 1987 after being found guilty of passing documents to Israel. | Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy intelligence analyst, was jailed for life in 1987 after being found guilty of passing documents to Israel. |
US Secretary of State John Kerry denied the move was a bid to appease Israel amid tensions over Iran's nuclear deal. | |
The case has been a source of friction between the US and Israel for decades. | |
Rumours of his release have been circulating for several days, with some analysts suggesting it was tied to the nuclear agreement with Iran. | |
But in a statement, Pollard's lawyers said the parole board made their decision "independently of any other US government agency". | |
"The decision is not connected to recent developments in the Middle East," they added. | |
"I haven't even had a conversation about it," Mr Kerry told reporters as he left a House of Representatives committee hearing on the Iranian nuclear deal. | |
Pollard, 60, began work as a civilian analyst in US navy intelligence near Washington DC in 1979 and began offering classified materials shortly afterwards. | |
Navy officials and the FBI interviewed him in 1985 after he was found to have removed classified documents from his office. | |
Under the threat of an espionage prosecution, he and his wife, Anne, sought asylum at the Israeli embassy but were turned away. | |
They were arrested soon after by the FBI. | |
His lawyers said Pollard will be required to remain in the US for five years under the terms of the parole. |