Daily Star staff
BEIRUT: A man arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel has rejected accusations of espionage and asked to confront officials in the resistance. Jaafar Halawi insisted before the Military Tribunal Monday night that he works with a Hezbollah security apparatus and executes operations for them.
Upon appearing before the military court, Halawi expressed anger at being tried for spying for Israel, when, according to him, he was actually employed by Hezbollah to lure and capture Israeli agents. The suspect asked to be allowed to confront six Hezbollah officials, whose orders he said he was acting on.
Halawi appeared before the military court headed by Colonel Nizar Khalil alongside fellow defendant Hussein Musa. Both men are accused of spying for the Israeli enemy, providing it with information on civilian and military sites as well as on party personnel, and engaging in illegal drug trade across Israel. Fugitive Ahmad Hassan Abdullah, known as Ahmad Tanous, was also tried in absentia on the same charges.
Halawi reiterated what he had said in his initial testimony, telling the court: “I am from the town of Kfar Kila, and I work with the resistance. If we were in a secret session, I would mention the operations that I’ve carried out for Hezbollah, and that several officials in the resistance’s security apparatus gave me a cell phone and ordered me to monitor Ahmad Abdullah, the fugitive agent.”
“I am lost. How can I be tried for spying for Israel when I am working for the resistance?” Halawi asked.
When questioned about his claims in light of denials by Hezbollah security, Halawi answered: “I have the names of the officials who employed me and I plead with you to let me confront them. “I don’t know why the resistance has abandoned me, even though I have named those officials whom I worked for,” he added.
Musa withdrew his initial testimony, the content of which remains unknown, saying that he had been subject to torture while in detention. The suspect said he had been arrested in his home in Kfar Kila by two Hezbollah members, who handed him to General Security.
When asked about his relation with Abdullah, Musa said the fugitive had contacted him after the 2006 summer war asking whether he could help provide information on Hezbollah and their sites. “But I refused and he stopped calling me,” he told the court.
At the end of the interrogations, the court decided to send a request to the Telecommunications Ministry, asking for a list of calls made by two cell phone numbers belonging to Musa from the year 2005 until the date of his arrest. The court adjourned the session until May 13.
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