South African intelligence: Mossad tried to dry up Nile
Another batch of leaks by al-Jazeera and the Guardian cites report that Israel tried to cause drought in Egypt, following previous claims about Mossad machinations.
A paper on Mossad reportedly drafted by the South African State Security Agency (SSA) claims that Israel for decades worked to artificially create a drought in Egypt, by draining the River Nile with a water-absorbing plant.
The report comes as Al-Jazeera and the Guardian continued Wednesday to release purported spy cables, which again raised startling claims about Israeli intelligence.
“Towards this end Israel’s Ministry of Science and Technology conducted extensive experiments, and eventually created a type of plant that flourishes on the surface or the banks of the Nile and that absorbs such large quantities of water as to significantly reduce the volume of water that reaches Egypt,” the Guardian quoted. The newspaper noted that the allegation could be false and South Africa "guilty of naivety", but if true, "then Mossad is guilty of reprehensible tactics".
Wednesday's disclosures also included a Russian document alleging that al-Qaeda had set up a facility to produce biological weapons in Algeria, but later abandoned it.
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- Mossad contradicted Netanyahu on Iran nukes, says report
- US accuses Israel of inaccurate leaks on Iran nuclear talks
The Guardian's report is the latest in a series of leaks that have been published this week, many of which involved Mossad. It was revealed that the SSA had extensively monitored an Israeli spy, that it had received a Mossad assessment in Iran that contradicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public statements, and that it believed Israel's flagship El Al airline was used as a front for clandestine activities.
The SSA also circulated a report in 2009 accusing Israel of using espionage to pursue its interests in Africa, said the Guardian, such as “working assiduously to encircle and isolate Sudan from the outside, and to fuel insurrection inside Sudan”.
The SSA further asserted that Israel had a longstanding desire to exploit Africa's resources and “plans to appropriate African diamonds and process them in Israel".
An additional claim in the report was that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was “facilitating contracts for Israelis to train various militias” during a 2009 diplomatic visit to Africa.
The Guardian also cited a Mossad paper sent to the SSA that warned of an attempt to deliver yellowcake, needed to refine uranium, to Iran from South Africa.
Yet another report said American intelligence "seems to be desperate to make inroads into Hamas in Gaza" and may have hoped for South African assistance. The cables also stated that former Mossad chief Meir Dagan said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was concerned about international acceptance of a UN inquiry into alleged Israeli war crimes, which could “play into the hands of Hamas and weaken his position”.
Pretoria has become a major hub for global espionage, the Guardian declared, serving as a gateway into an Africa that is increasingly at the center of international power struggles.
