Three Hizbullah Members Involved in Spy Ring
State investigations into an espionage network working for Israel have revealed the involvement of three Hizbullah members, An Nahar daily reported Sunday.
The intelligence bureau of the Internal Security Forces has informed Hizbullah of the findings and said the three suspects "were trailed for a while before taken into custody for questioning," the paper said.
It added that findings were made possible after the forces "were allowed unlimited access to the database (in the Telecoms Ministry), something Hizbullah had opposed in the past."
The three suspects are the latest in a string of arrests that included a former security officer, detained on Saturday, and retired Lebanese army general accused of being the ring leader of the network.
Army intelligence said the security officer, identified only as G.M., worked at the General Security Department and operated a bus to transport people between the southern town of Rmeish and Beirut, the daily As Safir said on Saturday.
Sources told the newspaper that the man was locked up for 3 months in the notorious Khiam detention center in the mid 1990s.
The Army on Tuesday disclosed the arrest of retired army general, Adib al-Alam saying he was seized at his office near Beirut.
Alam”s wife Hayat and his nephew, Joseph, a General Security Department Corporal, were also taken in custody for questioning.
Sources told pan-Arab daily al Hayat that Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi and head of the intelligence bureau Wissam al-Hassan informed Hizbullah official Wafiq Safa last week that the ring leader Alam had made "infiltrations into Hizbullah ranks."
The sources said that Hizbullah took extra measures and precautions upon receiving information about the network”s achievements. The group also decided to arrest any suspect involved in the spy ring.
Al Hayat said security forces decided to arrest Alam after monitoring his moves for more than 18 months for fears that his spying activities would put the security of Hizbullah and its leadership at risk.