Israeli soldiers on Lebanese border (Archives)
Photo: AP
2 alleged spies flee Lebanon to Israel
Mathematics professor suspected of being part of Israeli espionage ring slips under border fence with his family; another suspect also escapes. Lebanese internal security chief: We have begun to crack the infrastructure of Israeli spy rings
A disabled Lebanese citizen and his family fled to Israel at dawn Monday along with another suspected spy amid a crackdown on espionage networks throughout Lebanon, a security official said.
First Lebanon War
Beirut's al-Akhbar newspaper alleges that political activist recently arrested on espionage charges was trying to find out what became of three IDF soldiers missing since 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub
Elie Maroun Hayek, a mathematics professor who lives in the southern town of Qolayaa, some 10 kilometers from the Israeli border, slipped under barbed wire between the border towns of Rmaysh and Yaron, the official told AFP.
Hayek, who is paraplegic, fled with his wife and three sons, he said.
Another man from the town of Rmaysh also fled to Israel early Monday, the official said without giving more detail. He said the man and Hayek are suspected of being part of Israeli spy networks uncovered by Lebanese officials in recent months.
Lebanon has arrested 13 people since January on suspicion of spying for Israel. An undisclosed number of others have also been detained for interrogation.
"We have begun to crack the infrastructure of Israeli spy rings," internal security chief General Achraf Rifi told a Lebanese daily on Monday.
"There is a common factor which has helped us track down the rings," Rifi said without giving details.
The crackdown comes as the current parliamentary majority led by Prime Minister Fuoad Siniora's party faces a tight contest with a rival alliance led by Shiite militant group Hizbullah in elections June 7.
Among those detained as part of the espionage investigation in recent weeks are a former general in the security service along with his wife and a nephew, whom officials say have confessed to working as Israeli agents for the past 15 years.
Lebanon remains in a state of war with Israel, and convicted spies face a possible life prison term with hard labor, or the death penalty if found guilty of contributing to Lebanese loss of life.
Israel withdrew its troops from south Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year occupation during which it ran a proxy militia that human rights watchdogs accused of war crimes.
