Posted on 07/30/2003 9:31:24 AM PDT by Courier
Calgary man held in Lebanese jail
Calgary - An Alberta man is being held in a Lebanese jail without having been formally charged with a crime, and his friends are worried.
Bruce Balfour, 52, was arrested in Beirut three weeks ago, after entering the country as part of a project to reforest the mountain areas with cedar trees.
Fred van Vliet says family and friends received a fax from Balfour 11 days into his dentention. In the fax, Balfour writes that he was detained because the airport computer showed he'd once been to Israel. He also says the fax was the first contact he'd been allowed to make with Canadian officials. "He tells how he's been imprisoned since his arrival," van Vliet said. "He hasn't had any contact with anyone, and he doesn't know if anyone knows where he is. His handlettering deteriorates through the letter. It starts off pretty good, but at the end of the letter it's very scrawly. "It sounds, although he has a lot of internal strength, he sounds like he's been through a lot." Van Vliet says the Canadian government should be taking a harder stance with Lebanon and demand an explanation. He says Balfour has travelled to the country numerous times over the past 20 years, and hasn't had a problem before.
AND
Balfour to be Accused of Collaborating With Israel 12:19 Jul. 30, '03 / 1 Av 5763
(IsraelNN.com) Bruce Balfour, a 52-year-old Christian
missionary from Canada, has been imprisoned without charges in a Lebanese jail for three weeks. According to the Canadian press, Canadian authorities have been recently informed that Balfour will face charges of collaborating with Israel.
On July 10, Lebanese security personnel at the Beirut airport found records of Balfour’s many trips to Israel among his belongings. He was immediately shuffled off to prison. At this time, it is unclear if the charges against him will include espionage, a charge that can entail a death sentence.
Balfour was in Lebanon from the start of the month for what he saw as a two-pronged religious mission - to reforest Lebanon with cedar trees, as described in the Bible, and to spread Christianity by preaching and handing out Christian scriptures.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=47335
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