New Zealand authorities have recently received a tip regarding the burial place of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, who was captured and hanged in Damascus in 1965.
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According to the local site Newshub, the New Zealand intelligence services got the tip after interrogating a Syrian refugee who lives near Auckland. The refugee, Khalid al-Hafidh, told the authorities that he was the son
then Syrian President Amin al-Hafiz, who was in charge of executing Cohen and arranging his secret burial.
Israel has long sought the return of Cohen's remains, but the Syrian regime has never agreed to do so, even when there were peace talks between Jerusalem and Damascus.
The legendary "our man in Damascus," Cohen managed to infiltrate the Syrian military establishment for four years, using the alias Kamel Amin Thaabet. He was captured after reportedly communicating information to Israel while not knowing that radio silence had been declared in the Syrian military, as part of an effort to out potential spies. He was then tortured and executed on May 18, 1965.
"I am the son of the only person on this planet who knows where the remains are buried," al-Hafidh told Newshub.
"I was cooperating with the New Zealand Secret Intelligence Service in a mission with the Mossad of Israel to help find – to try to find – the remains of the Israeli spy Eli Cohen," he insisted.
He said the talks with the local intelligence services were supposed to result in the Mossad's involvement, but they never materialized, despite having text messages showing the Israeli spy agency supposedly being interested. He was also reportedly promised 1 million dollars.
"Khalid says the spies wanted him to try and talk to his father's close friends or provide insight," Newshub reported, adding that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Israeli ambassador declined to comment.
