Rabin graves defaced

The graves of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his wife, Leah, were found defaced in a Jerusalem cemetery, the latest in a wave of such incidents which police believe may be linked to ultranationalist Jews.

A police statement said the names on the graves, in the Mount Herzl national cemetery, were sprayed over with black paint and the words "murdering dog" written in Hebrew.

It added that Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco set up a special squad to investigate the grave desecrations. There have four instances in as many days.

Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by an ultranationalist Jew.