Lebanese-Israeli spy war is intensifying

Mughniyah

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS| intelNews.org |
On February 19, intelNews reported on the arrest in Nabatiyeh of Kamal Faqih, a Lebanese citizen who was allegedly recruited by Israeli intelligence while living in France in the mid-1990s. Faqih, who was initially arrested by Hezbollah, the Shia Islamic political and paramilitary organization that controls large parts of Lebanon, was subsequently surrendered to the Lebanese authorities. However, late last week, Lebanese newspapers revealed that, several days before Faqih’s arrest, another Lebanese man suspected of espionage was detained in Beirut. That was Yussef Sader, a Middle East Airlines employee, who witnesses say was kidnapped in the morning of February 14, while on his way to Beirut’s Rafiq Hariri International Airport. It is said that the abduction was carried out by Lebanese Armed Forces Military Intelligence (LAFMI) agents, but a Lebanese military spokesperson has denied Sader is in its custody. If accurate, the detention of Yussef Sader will confirm strong suspicions by many observers that the Lebanese-Israeli spy war is intensifying. Last October, two Lebanese brothers were arrested in the Bekaa Valley, and charged with membership in a clandestine Israeli spy ring that had been operating in the area for nearly 20 years. The ring is said to have helped organize the February 2008 assassination of Imad Mughniyah, a senior Hezbollah military commander and intelligence official. Although there has been speculation about possible Syrian involvement in Mughniyah’s killing, the operation is widely believed to be the work of Mossad. In its brief report about Yussef Sader’s arrest, The London Times states, without providing any details, that “the covert war works both ways, with Hezbollah building up a network of espionage cells in Israel and even recruiting Israeli soldiers”.