Israel denies knowledge of imminent Pollard release

Israel has no knowledge of plans to release Jonathan Pollard from prison in the United States, where he is serving a life sentence for spying on Israel's behalf, political sources familiar with the matter said in response to statements by Pensioner Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan in an interview Monday night with the Knesset television channel

Eitan hopes that President George W. Bush, who is coming to Israel next month, might on that occasion grant Pollard clemency as a goodwill gesture for Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations, or else toward the end of his tenure later this year

Eitan, who headed the secret Bureau of Scientific Relations that recruited and handled Pollard in the 1980s, said Monday that Pollard will be released soon

he subsequently emphasized that his words were based on "an intuition.