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Beate Klarsfeld expelled from Syria
Jerusalem Post / December 8, 1991 PARIS (AP) - Nazi-hunter Beate Klarsfeld was expelled from Syria yesterday, after being arrested while protesting the government's harboring of Nazi war criminal Alois Brun-ner, the Foreign Ministry here said. Mrs. Klarsfeld was arrested in Damascus after demonstrating in front of the Syrian Interior Ministry against Brunner's presence in Syria. Brunner, former chief of the notorious transit camp in Drancy, France, was convicted in absentia for crimes against humanity for his role in deporting 120,000 Jews during World War II. In recent years, he has given interviews and been photographed at his heavily guarded home outside Damascus, but Syria has repeatedly denied his presence on its territory. According to Mrs. Klarsfeld, who has helped bring many former Nazis to trial, Brunner moved on October 15 from the home in Damascus where he has lived for the past 30 years. "He's definitely still in Syria, because no other country wants him, not even Iraq, even though Saddam Hussein has friendly relations with him," Serge Klarsfeld, Beate's husband, told reporters in a telephone interview. Syrian officials said Mrs. Klarsfeld was expelled for entering the country under a false identity. Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, said Mrs. Klarsfeld, who holds French and German passports, arrived in Damascus last Thursday with "doctored papers." He said she had been in regular contact with diplomats from both embassies there. Gourdauit-Montagne said Foreign Minister Roland Dumas will visit Syria on December 19, and is expected to bring up the Brunner case. France issued an order for his extradition in 1988. following similar requests by the United States and West Germany. Last July a French judge ordered an international inquiry into Brunner's alleged presence in Syria, where the Klarsfelds say he has been living under the name Georg Fischer. Last week, France and Germany issued a joint diplomatic request to meet with Syrian officials to discuss Brunner's whereabouts. Syria has not responded publicly to the request. |
