Ali al-Jarah
Photo: Al-Akhbar
Mugniyah assassination site
Photo: AFP
Lebanese officials believe that the "Israeli espionage network" uncovered recently was involved in the assassination
of senior Hizbullah
commander Imad Mugniyah.
According to the report, al-Jarah also admitted that he was later asked to reconnoiter the Syrian port city of Tartus, where senior officer Mohammed Suleiman was assassinated several months ago.
Security sources told the As-Safir newspaper on Wednesday that the network's leader, Ali al-Jarah, had confessed to his investigators that he was ordered to survey the Kafr Sousa neighborhood in Damascus, where Mugniyah was killed by a car bomb in February.
Commentary
Ron Ben-Yishai
It seems that Hizbullah exposed ‘Israeli spies’ for deterrence purposes
The Lebanese security sources estimated that al-Jarah and his brother Yusuf were recruited by the Israeli intelligence in 1982, and have since carried out many missions.
According to the report, Ali al-Jarah also operated in additional Arab capitals apart from Damascus and Beirut and used a "military vehicle" provided to him to ease his movements.
The investigators are now checking whether additional al-Jarah brothers are involved in the network and have also worked for Israel.
As-Safir was the paper which revealed that the two espionage suspects were arrested about two weeks ago. The Lebanese army confirmed some of the details the same day.