Lebanon Arrests Twelve “Spies” For Israel
Lebanon Arrests Twelve “Spies” For Israel
The Lebanese army has detained 12 people, including a Palestinian officer, accusing them of spying for Israel, the military said Thursday. The army statement did not say when or where the 12 were arrested, but said they were caught with sophisticated wireless and camouflaged photography equipment.
Lebanese military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspects were arrested in groups during the last week. The statement charged they were part of a “terrorism and spy network” that was gathering information about the radical Shi’ite militia Hizb’Allah.
Hizb’Allah fought Israeli forces in southern Lebanon for 18 years, before Israel’s hasty withdrawal last May. Ever since, the Iranian-backed Islamic militia has stationed up to 5,000 well-armed terrorists along the border with Israel, with the approval of the Beirut government. The 12 detainees reportedly confessed to receiving training in Israel and said they were commissioned to recruit spies and carry out bombings in the southern port city of Sidon and the surrounding area, the Lebanese army statement claimed.
The army said that one of the members of the spy ring was a “Palestinian officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel.” The Palestinian – who the army claimed was responsible for a number of car bombings in the Sidon area – is believed to be Sami Akkawi, a senior member of the Armed Struggle faction in PLO chief Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement in a Sidon refugee camp. One other Palestinian is thought to be included in the ring, possibly Mohammed Ali Obeid, a colleague of Akkawi in the Armed Struggle faction, who was arrested by the authorities on unknown charges last week.
Sources close to the investigation disclosed that some members of the ring belonged to the defunct South Lebanon Army militia and were trained in Israel.
Used with Permission from International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.