Jerusalem – Eight officers from the Ethiopian Army who were hosted by Israel for a three-month-long security course have vanished and become illegal aliens, the Ma’ariv daily reported Tuesday.
The eight were part of a delegation of 16 officers who arrived in Israel on August 3 to participate in a course on the advanced technology needed to operate special equipment.
Their arrival was coordinated with the Israel Foreign Ministry and the security establishment and they were issued with service passports, which are similar to diplomatic passports.
The delegation was due to have left Israel on Sunday night, but only half the 16 officers showed up at the rendezvous ready to leave for Ben Gurion Airport, a government source said.
The missing officers called a short time later and said they intended deserting the military, leaving Ethiopia and immigrating to Israel.
The Israel Interior Ministry, on being informed, declared the eight to be illegal aliens wanted by the immigration police.
By law the immigration police have to arrest the eight, bring them for a hearing before the Interior Ministry and deport them to Ethiopia with an order they cannot re-enter Israel for ten years.
Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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