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Re: Hezbollah
Over the last year, Lebanon has arrested more than 70 people on charges of spying for Israel. Most of them seem to be either Palestinians or unsurprisingly, Lebanese Maronites. Some of the captured spies are former army generals. Some have already been sentenced to death while other spies have managed to flee to Israel before being arrested. These spies have been accused of giving out, among other things, valuable information on locations Israel struck during the 2006 Lebanon war.
The last month though has produced the most shocking of all spy busting operations. Lebanon's telecommunications market is dominated by two public companies called Alfa and MTC touch (formerly LibanCell). Basically, almost every cellphone in Lebanon is either with Alfa or MTC touch. At least one of these two seems to be under complete Israeli control. Two-three high ranking or otherwise important employees of Alfa have recently been arrested on charges of spying for Israel. Could you imagine the grip Israel has on Lebanon when it can basically plunge into any conversation at any time?
What is interesting is that in 2007, pro-government forces and Hezbollah fought a mini civil war on the streets over this same issue whereas the government tried to force Hezbollah to shut down its private telecom network which Hezbollah has maintained because of fears of Israeli infiltration of the state-owned ones. Looks like all the fears and allegations were true. Here's one of many articles covering this developing story as more and more people are arrested or flee south of the border to evade arrest.
Syrians have a saying about how the Lebanese would even sell their mothers out if given the opportunity...
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Hezbollah warns Lebanon telecom 'exposed' to Israel
By Natacha Yazbeck (AFP) – Jul 16, 2010
BEIRUT — Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday claimed Israel had complete control over Lebanon's telecom sector, calling for convicted spies to hang amid a widening probe into acts of espionage.
"The country is exposed and Israel... secures much information through its control over telecommunications" stretching back years, Nasrallah said in a televised address marking his Shiite militant party's "Wounded Veterans Day."
Lebanon has arrested three suspects over the past month in an expanding probe into an alleged network of Israeli spies employed in the country's telecom sector.
Two of them, technician Charbel Azzi and Tarek al-Rabaa, were likely accomplices at the company Alfa, one of Lebanon's two mobile service providers, a source close to the investigation has told AFP.
Rabaa is reportedly a transmissions engineer.
The third suspect was arrested late Thursday and "is a former employee in Lebanon's telecommunications sector," the source said.
Nasrallah linked the arrests to an international probe into the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri, slamming the pending indictment of the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon as "fabricated."
"The Israelis, who today stand impotent before the will, steadfastness, pride and readiness of the resistance in Lebanon are banking on another Israeli project, which is called the Special Tribunal for Lebanon," Nasrallah said.
A preliminary report by the UN investigating team said it had collected data from mobile phone calls made the day of Hariri's murder as evidence.
Media reports last year said the evidence implicated Hezbollah in the assassination.
Nasrallah in March confirmed the UN team had interrogated members of his party but said Hezbollah was not in the tribunal's line of fire.
Nasrallah, whose party fought a devastating 2006 war with Israel, also called on Friday for "the execution of those given the death sentence the soonest possible."
"Before the (2006) war, these spies gave important information to the Israeli enemy and based on this information Israel bombed buildings, homes, factories and institutions," he said.
"Many martyrs died and many others were wounded," Nasrallah added. "These spies are partners in the killings, the crimes, the threats and the displacement."
Since April 2009, Lebanon has arrested more than 70 people on suspicion of spying for Israel, including security officials.
Lebanon and Israel remain technically at a state of war, and convicted spies face life in prison with hard labour or the death penalty if found guilty of contributing to Lebanese loss of life.
Two Lebanese citizens have already been sentenced to death for "collaborating with Israel and providing information on targets."
One of the two was found guilty of providing Israel with targeting information during the 2006 war.
Israel has not commented on the arrests.
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Accused spies for Israel flee Lebanon
July 22, 2010
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Five Lebanese men accused of spying for Israel, including a former senior army officer, have fled the country.
The former officer may have taken a commercial flight to Germany, a Lebanese newspaper reported. Another may have escaped into Israel.
All of the suspects were employees of the state-owned mobile telecom company Alfa cellular, to which Israel allegedly has undercover ties.
The Lebanese government is planning to accuse Israel of espionage in an official complaint to the United Nations Security Council, its information minister, Tareq Mitri, said Wednesday.
Dozens of accused spies for Israel have been arrested in Lebanon since April 2009.
Over the last year, Lebanon has arrested more than 70 people on charges of spying for Israel. Most of them seem to be either Palestinians or unsurprisingly, Lebanese Maronites. Some of the captured spies are former army generals. Some have already been sentenced to death while other spies have managed to flee to Israel before being arrested. These spies have been accused of giving out, among other things, valuable information on locations Israel struck during the 2006 Lebanon war.
The last month though has produced the most shocking of all spy busting operations. Lebanon's telecommunications market is dominated by two public companies called Alfa and MTC touch (formerly LibanCell). Basically, almost every cellphone in Lebanon is either with Alfa or MTC touch. At least one of these two seems to be under complete Israeli control. Two-three high ranking or otherwise important employees of Alfa have recently been arrested on charges of spying for Israel. Could you imagine the grip Israel has on Lebanon when it can basically plunge into any conversation at any time?
What is interesting is that in 2007, pro-government forces and Hezbollah fought a mini civil war on the streets over this same issue whereas the government tried to force Hezbollah to shut down its private telecom network which Hezbollah has maintained because of fears of Israeli infiltration of the state-owned ones. Looks like all the fears and allegations were true. Here's one of many articles covering this developing story as more and more people are arrested or flee south of the border to evade arrest.
Syrians have a saying about how the Lebanese would even sell their mothers out if given the opportunity...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hezbollah warns Lebanon telecom 'exposed' to Israel
By Natacha Yazbeck (AFP) – Jul 16, 2010
BEIRUT — Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday claimed Israel had complete control over Lebanon's telecom sector, calling for convicted spies to hang amid a widening probe into acts of espionage.
"The country is exposed and Israel... secures much information through its control over telecommunications" stretching back years, Nasrallah said in a televised address marking his Shiite militant party's "Wounded Veterans Day."
Lebanon has arrested three suspects over the past month in an expanding probe into an alleged network of Israeli spies employed in the country's telecom sector.
Two of them, technician Charbel Azzi and Tarek al-Rabaa, were likely accomplices at the company Alfa, one of Lebanon's two mobile service providers, a source close to the investigation has told AFP.
Rabaa is reportedly a transmissions engineer.
The third suspect was arrested late Thursday and "is a former employee in Lebanon's telecommunications sector," the source said.
Nasrallah linked the arrests to an international probe into the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri, slamming the pending indictment of the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon as "fabricated."
"The Israelis, who today stand impotent before the will, steadfastness, pride and readiness of the resistance in Lebanon are banking on another Israeli project, which is called the Special Tribunal for Lebanon," Nasrallah said.
A preliminary report by the UN investigating team said it had collected data from mobile phone calls made the day of Hariri's murder as evidence.
Media reports last year said the evidence implicated Hezbollah in the assassination.
Nasrallah in March confirmed the UN team had interrogated members of his party but said Hezbollah was not in the tribunal's line of fire.
Nasrallah, whose party fought a devastating 2006 war with Israel, also called on Friday for "the execution of those given the death sentence the soonest possible."
"Before the (2006) war, these spies gave important information to the Israeli enemy and based on this information Israel bombed buildings, homes, factories and institutions," he said.
"Many martyrs died and many others were wounded," Nasrallah added. "These spies are partners in the killings, the crimes, the threats and the displacement."
Since April 2009, Lebanon has arrested more than 70 people on suspicion of spying for Israel, including security officials.
Lebanon and Israel remain technically at a state of war, and convicted spies face life in prison with hard labour or the death penalty if found guilty of contributing to Lebanese loss of life.
Two Lebanese citizens have already been sentenced to death for "collaborating with Israel and providing information on targets."
One of the two was found guilty of providing Israel with targeting information during the 2006 war.
Israel has not commented on the arrests.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Accused spies for Israel flee Lebanon
July 22, 2010
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Five Lebanese men accused of spying for Israel, including a former senior army officer, have fled the country.
The former officer may have taken a commercial flight to Germany, a Lebanese newspaper reported. Another may have escaped into Israel.
All of the suspects were employees of the state-owned mobile telecom company Alfa cellular, to which Israel allegedly has undercover ties.
The Lebanese government is planning to accuse Israel of espionage in an official complaint to the United Nations Security Council, its information minister, Tareq Mitri, said Wednesday.
Dozens of accused spies for Israel have been arrested in Lebanon since April 2009.
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