Army Uncovers 25 Spy Cells and 6 Terrorist Networks
The Lebanese army has uncovered 25 cells spying for the Israeli Mossad and arrested since early 2009 six networks belonging to al-Qaida, high-level military sources told An Nahar newspaper.
The sources also said that the army arrested in the past few days a three-member network which is seen as playing a very important role in intelligence gathering and cooperating with Israel. The spy ring could be the most dangerous of all networks given its use of highly developed security techniques.
Furthermore, the army intelligence reportedly arrested H.S.F. from the southern town of Ain Qana on suspicion of spying for Israel. The man”s arrest came after another alleged spy was seized from the same town at dawn Thursday.
The sources told An Nahar that the army has been lately focusing on "fighting terrorism in its extremist and Israeli aspects" away from media spotlight. Intelligence gathering for months led to the arrest of alleged spies.
"The army was able up to this date to uncover 25 cells spying for Israel and was able since early this year to arrest six very important extremist networks belonging to al-Qaida," the sources said.
They told An Nahar that investigation with members of the Israeli cells represents a real challenge because the alleged spies are trained to face investigation and the rings are not connected. Another difficulty is that each person is himself a cell and more effort is required to receive information from him during questioning.
About the latest arrests of two army colonels, the sources said: "The military command worked since assuming its duties to upgrade the intelligence directorate and improve its capabilities through security equipment…As a result of improved military security work in the past few months, suspicion fell on the two colonels who were placed under strict watch until their arrest."
The high-level sources added that Army Chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji took a "bold decision to open the file of cooperating with Israel. He is fully aware of the dangers of investigating with any officer because of suspicion. The decision to question the officers wasn”t easy for the army commander…because an officer cannot be bought and sold."
The army colonels are Mansour Diab and Shahid Toumiyeh. Money and sex were reportedly two factors behind their recruitment as spies.
As for the six terrorist networks, the sources said that they are dangerous because they function on the regional and international level in addition to Lebanon where they planned attacks to target stability, including in areas where U.N. peacekeepers are deployed.
Members of the networks are from Arab and non-Arab nationalities and the army is coordinating with their countries.