Iloubnan - Second telecoms Israeli'spy & arrested in Lebanon

AFP - July 15, 2010
Lebanon has arrested a suspected accomplice of a telephone company technician who has been charged with spying for Israel, a senior official and a source close to the investigation said.
Defence Minister Elias Murr had informed the Council of Ministers at a meeting late Wednesday "of a new arrest" in the case of Israeli collaborators, State Minister Jean Ogassapian said.

Ogassapian was responding to questions by journalists about whether another employee of Alfa mobile service provider had been taken into custody. Alfa employee Charbel Azzi was arrested last month as part of a national crackdown on suspected Israeli espionage rings launched in April 2009.

A source close to the investigation told AFP that the second person arrested had been an "accomplice of Charbel Azzi." Azzi was a technician for Alfa, and Lebanese press reports on Thursday said that the unidentified alleged accomplice was a transmission engineer.

He is charged with "entering enemy territory, collaborating with Israel and providing it with information." He faces the death penalty if convicted.

Lebanon and Israel remain technically in 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.

Lebanon has arrested more than 70 people since last year on suspicion of spying for Israel, including members of the country's security forces. Israel has not commented on the arrests.