- from leaving Israel when he
completes his 18- year sentence in 2004.
Yehiel Horev, the head of a special security department,
suggested in secret this month that Vanunu would have to stay and
would risk rearrest if he talked to the media.
Israeli security sources said Horev, a shadowy figure named only
two years ago, had lobbied hard for Vanunu to serve his full
sentence rather than receive parole.
Horev's department, which is responsible for protecting secrets,
especially those relating to the nuclear programme, has been
taking a harder line than Shin Beth, the internal security
service.
Emergency regulations dating back to the British mandate rule of
Palestine allow the state to bar a citizen from leaving if it
believes he or she is a security risk.
Vanunu has said the only Israeli road he wants to see when he
leaves his high-security prison is the one to the international
airport.
Avigdor Feldman, his lawyer, said: "The state can do this, but
I don't think such a decision would survive an appeal to the high
court."
