KEY POINTS:
Jerusalem - Yitzhak Rabin's assassin became a father this morning when his wife gave birth to a son, almost 12 years to the day since Yigal Amir shot the Israeli prime minister at a peace rally, public broadcasters said.
Amir, 37, a Jew who opposed Rabin's peace efforts with the Palestinians, is serving a life sentence for murder. He was allowed to marry three years ago and has been permitted conjugal visits.
Supporters were not immediately available for comment but social networking websites apparently used by acquaintances of Amir's wife Larissa, a Russian immigrant who has four children from a previous marriage, carried congratulatory messages.
Amir, who condemned what he saw as Rabin's plan to give away the Jews' "God-given land", has become a polarising symbol for hardline nationalist supporters and for liberals who revile him. Many had campaigned to deny him the right to father a child.
Israeli media had commented extensively on the possibility the baby might be born last week as the nation marked the 12th anniversary of Rabin's death, according to the Jewish calendar.
By Jewish tradition, the ritual circumcision should be on Nov. 4 - the day in 1995 when Amir killed Rabin in Tel Aviv.
Prison authorities and liberal groups tried to prevent the marriage but rabbis upheld it under religious law after Amir's friends smuggled a wedding ring out of prison.
Larissa Amir said in an internet message posted last week that she believed the fact the birth had been provisionally due on last week's Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Day had been "a miracle, that gave me a lot of support these past few months".
- REUTERS
