WASHINGTON: A former FBI agent who mysteriously vanished in 2007 died in Iranian custody, his family concluded Wednesday, saying US intelligence had made them give up 13 years of hope.
President Donald Trump did not confirm Bob Levinson’s death, saying that Iran had not communicated any news on the former agent, who would have turned 72 this month.
But Levinson’s family said that it had learned that he was dead, although it gave no information on how or when.
“We recently received information from US officials that has led both them and us to conclude that our wonderful husband and father died while in Iranian custody,” the family said in a statement.
“We don’t even know when, or even if, his body would be returned to us. This is the very definition of cruelty.”
The family said Levinson died before the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit Iran hard and led authorities to release thousands of prisoners temporarily.
Levinson is one of a number of Americans who have disappeared in arch-enemy Iran, but his case has been among the most perplexing, with his family until now insisting he was alive.
The father of seven vanished in March 2007 in Kish, an island that has more lenient visa rules than the rest of Iran, and was said to have been investigating cigarette counterfeiting.
But The Washington Post reported in 2013 that Levinson, who had retired from the FBI, was working for the CIA and had gone on a rogue mission aimed at gathering intelligence on Iran.
It said at the time that the CIA paid $2.5 million to Levinson’s wife Christine, accepting responsibility for his disappearance.
His family on Wednesday accused Tehran of “repeatedly lying to the world” about Levinson and renewed criticism of the initial US response. Officials initially did not classify Levinson as a hostage and have consistently denied he worked for the government.
“Those who are responsible for what happened to Bob Levinson, including those in the US government who for many years repeatedly left him behind, will ultimately receive justice for what they have done,” the family said.
“We will spend the rest of our lives making sure of this, and the Iranian regime must know we will not be going away.”
Iranian officials have repeatedly said they had no information about Levinson.
In 2010, a videotape of a haggard, bearded Levinson emerged in which he wore an orange jumpsuit of the sort worn by prisoners being held indefinitely at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The footage raised speculation that he may have been held by extremists in Pakistan, but US officials later discounted the possibility.
Trump, who as a candidate had accused his predecessor Barack Obama of not doing enough for Levinson in negotiations with Iran, noted that the former agent had longstanding health problems.
“I don’t accept that he’s dead,” Trump told reporters when asked about the family’s statement.
“They haven’t told us that he’s dead, but a lot of people are thinking that that is the case,” he said.
Senator Bob Menendez, who employs one of Levinson’s sons on his staff, sounded more definitive on his death and vowed to hold Iran accountable.
“To be clear, the Iranian regime is fully responsible for Bob Levinson’s disappearance and his death,” said Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, where Levinson lived, also called for the United States to “hold the evil regime accountable.”
Iran released four US citizens of Iranian descent in 2016 when it concluded a nuclear deal with Obama. but relations have sharply deteriorated under Trump, who withdrew from the accord and implemented sweeping sanctions.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Iran last week freed a US Navy veteran, Michael White, who had apparently come to Iran to see a woman he met online and was jailed for online criticism of the regime.
He was handed over to Switzerland, which represents US interests in Iran, but not allowed to leave the country.
Iran is still holding dual US nationals Siamak Namazi, who was convicted of charges that include espionage, his father Baquer and environmental expert Morad Tahbaz.
Ex-FBI agent missing for 13 years died in Iran custody, family says
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Ex-FBI agent missing for 13 years died in Iran custody, family says
Iraq ministry says two border guards killed by PKK fire
- “They were fired at by terrorists from the banned PKK organization” in Zakho district, the interior ministry said
- The two guards were killed and a third wounded
IRBIL, Iraq: A shooting which officials blamed on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) killed two Iraqi border guards on Friday near the Turkish boundary in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, Iraq’s interior ministry said.
The PKK, which has fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, has several positions in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, which also hosts Turkish military bases used to strike Kurdish insurgents.
“When the Iraqi border forces were carrying out their duties securing the Iraqi-Turkish border... they were fired at by terrorists from the banned PKK organization” in Zakho district, the interior ministry said in a statement.
The two guards were killed and a third wounded, it added.
A border guard official told AFP that the guards were patrolling a village near the Turkish border when the “shooting and clashes” with the PKK took place.
Baghdad deploys federal guards along its border with Turkiye in coordination with the government of the Kurdistan region and its forces, the peshmerga.
The Iraqi federal authorities in Baghdad have recently sharpened their tone against the PKK. Last year, Baghdad quietly listed the group as a “banned organization” — though Ankara demands that the Iraqi government do more in the fight against the militant group.
Ankara along with the United States deems the PKK a “terrorist” organization.
Türkiye has conducted hundreds of strikes against PKK fighters in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.
Israel sees more to do on Lebanon ceasefire as deadline nears
- “We’ve also made clear that these movements have not been fast enough, and there is much more work to do,” Mencer said
- Three diplomats said on Thursday it looked like Israeli forces would still be in some parts of southern Lebanon after the 60-day mark
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: Israel said on Thursday the terms of a ceasefire with Hezbollah were not being implemented fast enough and there was more work to do, while the Iran-backed group urged pressure to ensure Israeli troops leave south Lebanon by Sunday as set out in the deal.
The deal stipulates that Israeli troops withdraw from south Lebanon, Hezbollah remove fighters and weapons from the area and Lebanese troops deploy there — all within a 60-day timeframe which will conclude on Sunday at 4 a.m. (0200 GMT).
The deal, brokered by the United States and France, ended more than a year of hostilities triggered by the Gaza war. The fighting peaked with a major Israeli offensive that displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon and left Hezbollah severely weakened.
“There have been positive movements where the Lebanese army and UNIFIL have taken the place of Hezbollah forces, as stipulated in the agreement,” Israeli government spokesmen David Mencer told reporters, referring to UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.
“We’ve also made clear that these movements have not been fast enough, and there is much more work to do,” he said, affirming that Israel wanted the agreement to continue.
Mencer did not directly respond to questions about whether Israel had requested an extension of the deal or say whether Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon after Monday’s deadline.
Hezbollah said in a statement that there had been leaks talking about Israel postponing its withdrawal beyond the 60-day period, and that any breach of the agreement would be unacceptable.
The statement said that possibility required everyone, especially Lebanese political powers, to pile pressure on the states which sponsored the deal to ensure “the implementation of the full (Israeli) withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the last inch of Lebanese territory and the return of the people to their villages quickly.”
Any delay beyond the 60 days would mark a blatant violation of the deal with which the Lebanese state would have to deal “through all means and methods guaranteed by international charters” to recover Lebanese land “from the occupation’s clutches,” Hezbollah said.
Israel said its campaign against Hezbollah aimed to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people forced to leave their homes in northern Israel by Hezbollah rocket fire.
It inflicted major blows on Hezbollah during the conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah and thousands of the group’s fighters and destroying much of its arsenal.
The group was further weakened in December when its Syrian ally, Bashar Assad, was toppled, cutting its overland supply route from Iran.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, said Israel had put an end to hostilities and was removing its forces from Lebanon, and that the Lebanese army had gone to locations of Hezbollah ammunition stores and destroyed them.
He also indicated there was more to do to shore up the ceasefire. “Are we done? No. We will need more time to achieve results,” he said.
Three diplomats said on Thursday it looked like Israeli forces would still be in some parts of southern Lebanon after the 60-day mark.
A senior Lebanese political source said President Joseph Aoun had been in contact with US and French officials to urge Israel to complete the withdrawal within the stipulated timeframe.
The Lebanese government has told US mediators that Israel’s failure to withdraw on time could complicate the Lebanese army’s deployment, and this would be a blow to diplomatic efforts and the optimistic atmosphere in Lebanon since Aoun was elected president on Jan. 9.
UN suspends all trips into Houthi-held areas of Yemen over staffers being detained
- The statement comes after the Houthis detained UN staffers
DUBAI: The United Nations on Friday suspended all travel into areas held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels after more of their staff were detained by the rebels.
The statement comes after the Houthis detained UN staffers, as well as individuals associated with the once-open US Embassy in Sanaa and aid groups.
“Yesterday, the de facto authorities in Sanaa detained additional UN personnel working in areas under their control,” the UN statement read. “To ensure the security and safety of all its staff, the United Nations has suspended all official movements into and within areas under the de facto authorities’ control.”
The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the UN’s decision, which came as they have been trying to deescalate their attacks on shipping and Israel after a ceasefire was reached in the Israel-Hamas war.
US President Donald Trump separately has moved to reinstate a terrorism designation he made on the group late in his first term that had been revoked by President Joe Biden, potentially setting the stage for new tensions with the rebels.
The Houthis earlier this week said they would limit their attacks on ships in the Red Sea corridor and released the 25-member crew of the Galaxy Leader, a ship they seized back in November 2023.
Israel building military installations in Golan demilitarized zone
- UN: Israeli construction along Area of Separation is ‘severe violation’ of 1974 ceasefire agreement
- Israeli forces have been operating in southern Syria since fall of Assad regime in December
LONDON: The Israeli military is building installations in the demilitarized zone between the occupied Golan Heights and Syria, satellite images published by the BBC have revealed.
Israeli forces moved into the Area of Separation agreed in the 1974 ceasefire with Syria, crossing the so-called Alpha Line following the fall of the Assad regime in December.
The satellite images, taken on Tuesday, show construction work and trucks around 600 meters inside the Area of Separation, including a track linking the site to another Israeli-administered road in the area.
Footage obtained by a drone operated by a Syrian journalist on Monday also identified excavators and bulldozers at the location.
The Israeli military told the BBC that its “forces are operating in southern Syria, within the buffer zone and at strategic points, to protect the residents of northern Israel.”
The UN Disengagement Observer Force has said Israeli construction along the Area of Separation is “a severe violation” of the 1974 ceasefire agreement.
Jeremy Binnie, Middle East specialist at defense intelligence company Janes, told the BBC: “The photo shows what appear to be four prefabricated guard posts that they will presumably crane into position in the corners, so this is somewhere they are planning to maintain at least an interim presence.”
It is not the first time that the BBC has identified Israeli forces inside the Area of Separation. Soldiers were spotted near the town of Majdal Shams, around 5.5 km from the new site, while satellite pictures taken in November found a trench being dug by Israeli personnel along the Alpha Line near the town of Jubata Al-Khashab.
Hamas says to provide names of 4 Israeli hostages on Friday for next swap
- Four Israeli women hostages to be freed on Saturday as part of a second release
- Hamas has not released definitive information on how many captives are still alive or the names of those who have died
CAIRO: A senior Hamas official told AFP that his group will provide on Friday the names of four Israeli women hostages to be freed the following day as part of a second release under the ceasefire with Israel.
“Today, Hamas will provide the names of four hostages as part of the second prisoner exchange,” said Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau based in Doha.
“Tomorrow, Saturday, the four women hostages will be released in exchange for a group of Palestinian prisoners, as agreed upon in the ceasefire deal.”
Naim also said that once the exchange takes place, war-displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza will be able to begin returning to the north of the territory.
“An Egyptian-Qatari committee will oversee the implementation of this part of the agreement on the ground,” he said.
“The displaced will return from the south to the north via Al-Rashid Road, as Israeli forces are expected to withdraw from there in accordance with the agreement.”
The ceasefire agreement was brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States after months of intense negotiations.
The truce, the second in the more than 15 months of war, began on Sunday, with the first three hostages released in exchange for around 90 Palestinian prisoners.
The war between Hamas and Israel broke out after the militants’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
During the attack, militants took 251 hostages, 91 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are deceased.
The first truce, implemented in late November 2023, lasted just one week but involved the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Since then, Israel’s retaliatory response has killed at least 47,283 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, figures which the UN considers are reliable.
