Colonel confesses to spying on Hizbullah & Syrian army for Mossad since 1997
Two more suspects arrested on suspicion of espionage
Source: AFP & Daily Star, 29-5-2009
BEIRUT: Colonel Mansour of the Lebanese Army admitted to investigators that he spied on Hizbullah and the Syrian army for "Israel's" secret service, the Mossad, since 1997 in exchange for hefty cash rewards. An-Nahar newspaper said on Thursday that security forces arrested Diab's wife and brother-in-law overnight. The daily's report gave no further details.
Diab's wife, however, in a telephone interview with Ash-Sharq radio station on Thursday, denied that she or her brother had been arrested.
Diab, according to As-Safir newspaper on Thursday, confessed to spying for the Mossad since 1997 when "Israeli" officers recruited him as he took part in a military training program in the United States in exchange for large amounts of money.
He admitted providing information about Hizbullah and Syrian troops before their withdrawal from Lebanon in April 2005, the paper said.
It said Diab, from the northern town of Idbil in the Akkar Province, has also "provided services to the "Israelis" within the task set to him."
As-Safir said the army intelligence confiscated communications equipment from Diab's home and other places frequently visited by the officer.
In a report on Wednesday, As-Safir said Diab fought in the army's battle against the Al-Qaeda inspired Fatah al-Islam militant group in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in the summer of 2007. He was wounded in his left shoulder during the fighting.
The newspaper said investigations with Diab focus on uncovering how the army colonel was recruited by the Mossad, and whether he traveled regularly abroad to meet with "Israeli" officers. The investigation also wants to know the nature of the tasks "Israeli"s assigned Dib.
Also on Thursday, An-Nahar reported that two more suspects were arrested overnight Tuesday on suspicion of links to the "Israeli" espionage networks.
It identified the new detainees as Saeb M.A., 66, from the border town of Kfar Shouba and another 50-year-old man identified as "R.M.A." from nearby Rmeish.
On Wednesday, the Intelligence Directorate arrested a man identified as "A.H." from the southern border town of Khiam. He worked as a taxi driver in Beirut's southern suburbs, the An-Nahar report said.
According to the daily Al-Akhbar, the suspect "A.H." admitted to spying on Hizbullah for "Israel" since 2002.
Meanwhile, Al-Liwaa newspaper said Lebanese troops have arrested Lebanese soldier F. Nasereddine and another man from the village of Rmeish identified as Tanios Karam.
In other developments, Judge Saqr Saqr charged four more people on Thursday with spying for "Israel", bringing to 25 the total number charged since January, a judicial source said.
Nasser Nader, his girlfriend Nawal Maalouf, Mustafa Said and Samer Abu Arraj, are charged with providing information to "Israel" on civilian and military posts and political figures with the aim of facilitating assassinations, the source told AFP.
Nader, who was arrested with his girlfriend earlier this month, is suspected of providing information on Ghaleb Awali, a senior Hizbullah figure assassinated in a Beirut car bombing in 2004.
