A historic disclosure offers a haunting reminder of one of the great espionage episodes in history: Said Jawish, a former Syrian soldier and intelligence officer who specialised in signals intelligence and was the man who decrypted and located the clandestine transmissions sent from Eli Cohen's flat in the heart of Damascus, is now revealing primary and gripping testimony about the Mossad agent's capture, his dramatic interrogation, and the decision taken by security officials on the night of his execution.
In a comprehensive interview with the Al Majalla website, Jawish, today an elderly man with impaired vision, describes how he served in Signal Company 134 and was an integral part of a team of six intelligence officers who convened on the night of 18 May 1965, hours before Cohen was hanged in a central Damascus square.
The purpose of the midnight meeting in the office of Adnan Tiyara, head of the Israel branch in Syrian intelligence, was to resolve the question of the precise burial location. "It was clear to all of us that Israel will do everything when the day comes to locate the remains and bring them home," Jawish said, revealing that Tiyara proposed burying Cohen right at the entrance to one of the permanently secured army camps, so that the grave would receive continuous protection without a separate mechanism.
