Israeli leaders test nuclear bunker in defence drill

By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM, June 22 (Reuters) - Israeli leaders holed up in a new underground nuclear bunker on Wednesday as part of annual manoeuvres to prepare for a possible missile war with Iran, Syria and their Lebanese and Palestinian guerrilla allies.

Officials said it was the first time the security cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had tested the "National Management Centre" carved out beneath the government complex in Jerusalem over the past decade.

The bunker includes living quarters as well as command facilities. It can be accessed through the western foothills leading to the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv.

"This is the proper place from which to run the State of Israel in wartime," Homefront Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio in an interview.

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