Israel To Deport 11 U.S. Suspected Cultists

Reuters/January 4, 1999

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's Interior Ministry Monday ordered the deportation of 11 Americans suspected of being members of a U.S. Christian cult planning violence ahead of the millennium to hasten the second coming of Jesus.

``The Ministry of Interior issued 11 deportation orders for the members of the Denver-based Concerned Christians cult,'' a ministry spokeswoman told Reuters. Israeli police arrested 14 people in the case Sunday.

It was unclear when the 11 would be deported.

``Israeli police arrested 14 people but, at the request of security officials, deportation orders were issued only against 11. Another three are still under investigation,'' a ministry statement said. It said police had asked a judge to order the remaining three be held for further questioning.

Israeli police said Sunday the suspected cultists intended to carry out ``extreme acts of violence in the streets of Jerusalem toward the end of 1999 with the aim of beginning a process that would bring about the Second Coming of Jesus.''

The arrest of the 14, six of them children, was the first since Israeli security authorities set up a task force last year to deal with possible violence by cults and messianic groups in the Holy Land as the turn of the millennium approaches.

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