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Lebanon arrests three charged with spying for Israel

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Thursday, February 28, 2002

NICOSIA Ñ The Lebanese military has arrested three men accused of spying for Israel.

A military statement said the three Lebanese nationals provided Israel with information on Hizbullah, Lebanese and Syrian military positions.

"After investigations, Lebanese army intelligence was able to expose and detain a spy ring working for the Israeli enemy," the statement said.

The three Lebanese nationals were identified as Imad Hussein Ruz, 43, Muhammad Abdel Aziz Abi Melhem, 45, and Radwan Khalil Haj, 38. They were described as Lebanese prominent in such professions as banking, commerce and medicine.

The statement said the alleged ring had been spying for Israel since 1993. The military said the three confessed to relaying the information in meetings with Israeli Mossad agents in Europe. The statement said the three Lebanese received large sums of money.

On Wednesday, Hizbullah television reported that the last meeting between the Lebanese agents and the Mossad was in January in Rome. The television reported that Lebanese intelligence had been monitoring the ring since November.

Lebanese sources said they expect authorities to announce the capture of additional espionage suspects. They said the capture and confessions of the three Lebanese nationals have led to information on other Israeli-sponsored spy rings.

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