Vanunu is elected rector

Students at Glasgow University chose Mr Vanunu ahead of the former British Lion and Scottish rugby player John Beattie, the actor Jenni Keenan Green, and the Indonesian peace campaigner Annas Alamudi.

He received 1,033 votes to the 793 for Mr Beattie, a former student at the university.

"I am very happy," said Mr Vanunu yesterday, speaking from St George's cathedral in Jerusalem where he has lived since his release from prison in April following an 18-year sentence for revealing Israel's nuclear weapons programme to the media. "I would like to thank the students very much for electing me and I hope to be able to serve them. I hope it spreads the message for a nuclear-free world."

The university's principal, Sir Muir Russell, said the election demonstrated the "international concerns" of the students.

Mick Napier of the Vanunu4rector campaign said students had "punched a hole through the conspiracy to keep Vanunu in semi-prison".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1375678,00.html