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Will Israel’s superspy finally rest in peace?

The body of an Israeli spy hanged in public in Damascus more than 40 years ago may hold the key to the resumption of diplomatic contacts between Israel and Syria.

Eli Cohen is regarded as one of the most successful agents Israel ever recruited, with streets and parks named after him. Cohen's devoted widow, Nadia, has been trying for years to retrieve his remains for burial under Jewish rites and believes that recent signals from Damascus - suggesting stalled peace talks could be re-opened - provide "a golden opportunity" for a humanitarian gesture to kick-start the process.

According to Nadia (right, with Eli on their wedding day) the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, promised her he would explore the possibility of Turkey becoming an 'honest broker' in this matter during his official visit

Eli Cohen was executed in 1965 but he may still hold the key to a diplomatic breakthrough, says philip jacobson

to Ankara last week. A Turkish official subsequently confirmed that his government was ready to act as a mediator; well-placed Israeli sources welcomed this as a possible breakthrough, though the Syrians are understood to have indicated there could be no commitment on the Cohen issue until peace talks were under way.

Last month it was revealed that negotiators representing Israel and Syria during protracted "back channel" talks in Switzerland - none held an official position and so all their discussions were deniable - had discussed the possibility of Israel handing back the occupied Golan Heights in exchange for Damascus withdrawing support for Hezbollah and Hamas. The talks collapsed after the US put pressure on Israel to stop dealing with Syria, but not before members of Cohen's family had been consulted about the possibility of

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