Special to WorldTribune.com

New: New: Geostrategy-Direct.com

WASHINGTON — Western diplomatic sources said the U.S. intelligence community, particularly the CIA, has been using foreign and dual nationals to monitor unrest in Egypt, Lebanon and Libya in order to reduce risk of exposure.

The sources said the U.S. intelligence community would bolster its program to use foreign nationals in the Middle East. They cited the arrest of more than 10 CIA operatives in Iran and Lebanon in 2011.

“Beirut station is out of business,” a source told the Los Angeles Times on Nov. 21.

“The idea of an American being arrested for spying could be very embarrassing, not to mention damaging,” a diplomatic source said. “So, the intelligence community prefers to bolster its current assets with non-U.S. citizens.”

The sources, familiar with U.S. intelligence methods, said the CIA in cooperation with the State Department recruited scores of foreign and dual nationals in 2011 to monitor the revolts in the Arab world.

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  CIA used foreign, dual-national spies to monitor Arab Spring uprisings