Mordechai Vanunu, who served 18 years in prison after he revealed Israel’s secret nuclear programme, has been placed under house arrest pending criminal charges for allegedly breaching the terms of his 2004 release, which includes a ban on contacts with foreigners.

A police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said Vanunu was accused of meeting with “a number of foreigners”. The spokesman, however, did not specify who the foreigners were or where they came from.

Vanunu’s lawyer, Avigdor Feldman, said his client had been arrested because his romantic attachment to an unnamed Norwegian woman had come to the attention of the authorities.

“Vanunu was arrested [for] a relationship between a man and a woman, with a Norwegian citizen,” he told Reuters. “He is not being accused of giving any secrets. She is not interested in nuclear business – she’s interested in Mordechai Vanunu [and he] is probably interested in her.”

The woman has reportedly been interrogated by police but has not been charged with any offence.