Professors Petition Syrians to Release Israeli POW List

Four Harvard Nobel laureates and two deans signed a petition calling upon the government of Syria to release a list of its Israeli prisoners of war.

Signers of the petition, which appeared as an advertisement in yesterday's New York Times, include Kenneth J. Arrow, professor of Economics; Konrad E. Bloch, Higgins Professor of Biochemistry; Simon F. Kuznets, George F. Baker Professor of Economics, emeritus; Wassily W. Leontief, Henry Lee Professor of Economics; Dean Rosovsky; and Krister Stendahl, dean of the Divinity School.

A total of 22 prominent academicians, including 17 Nobel Laureates, signed the statement.

The advertisement accused Syria of violating "both international law and international morality" by failing to release a list of Israeli prisoners.

Nobel prize-winning economist Paul A. Samuelson said yesterday he signed the petition out of an "interest in having information on the POW's made public."

The advertisement was sponsored by The Ad Hoc Committee for the Release of Israeli POWs in Syria.