Lebanon: Four charged as Israeli spies

Mossad agents recruited us in Europe, suspects reportedly tell investigators.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Four Lebanese people were charged with spying for Israel by a military court in Lebanon on Saturday. Two of the four suspects were reportedly charged in absentia.
"All four suspects are Lebanese and are charged with spying for Israel and providing information on civilian and military posts and on Hizbullah," AFP quoted a local judicial course as saying.
"One of those in custody confessed that he was in contact with two others, whom he says are currently in Israel," the French news agency reported.
According to the Palestinian Ma'an news agency, the suspects admitted in their interrogation that they were recruited by Mossad agents in Europe. The suspects also told the Lebanese authorities that they had been on a military base surveillance mission in the northern and southern areas of Lebanon, as well as Beirut, Lebanese media reported.
Lebanese authorities have made dozens of arrests of people suspected of collaborating with Israel in recent months and filed preliminary charges.
The arrest campaign that began in April of 2009 has seen more than 70people taken into custody, including 37 Lebanese, two Palestinians andan Egyptian. The arrests began when a Lebanese general and two Lebanesecolonels were arrested on espionage charges. A third colonel isbelieved to have escaped to Israel.
The detained colonels and other suspects are accused of working withIsrael in the assassination of top Hizbullah commander Ghalib Awali in2004.
AP and Alex Sorin contributed to this report