Israeli nuclear whistle-blower gets offer to live in Oslo

Norway on Friday offered to let Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu live in Oslo with his Norwegian wife, although it is unclear if Israel will allow him to leave the country.

The former nuclear technician was jailed in 1986 for disclosing the inner workings of Israel's Dimona nuclear plant to Britain's The Sunday Times newspaper.

The interview led experts to conclude the facility had produced fissile material for as many as 200 atomic warheads.

Vanunu was drugged, kidnapped and smuggled out of Italy to Israel by Mossad agents, where he was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 18 years in jail.

He spent more than 10 years in solitary confinement and is vilified in Israel as a traitor.

He married theology professor Kristen Joachimsen in Jerusalem in 2015 after meeting in Israel almost a decade earlier.

Joachimsen applied for him to come to Norway under the rule for family reunification and the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration said permission had been granted.

Israeli authorities imposed strict conditions on Vanunu, 62, following his release from jail in 2004, including a ban on travelling abroad.

The restrictions are up for review in November, with Joachimsen expressing hopes Israel would lift them.

"We have waited long enough for the case to be solved on Israel's side," she said, according to Reuters.

The restrictions, repeatedly upheld by Israel's Supreme Court, have been condemned by international human rights groups.