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Lebanon arrests another telecom worker for spying
[Arab News] Lebanese security authorities arrested a second employee at state-owned mobile telecom firm Alfa on suspicion of spying for Israel, security sources said Thursday.

They described Tareq Raba'a as a telecoms engineer and said he was "more dangerous" than Charbel Qazzi, another employee who was arrested last month and was referred to a military court this week. If convicted he could face the death penalty.

Security sources said Raba'a was arrested Monday and was under investigation.

They said he had been an employee at Alfa since 1996 and began working for Israeli intelligence in 2001, adding that he used to leave Lebanon twice a month and every time he would bring back at least $10,000 in cash.

The arrests are part of a broad espionage investigation, which has led to more than 50 arrests since April last year. Israel has not commented on the detentions.

Lebanon has described the arrests as a major blow to Israel's intelligence gathering in the country and said many suspects helped identify targets in Lebanon that Israel bombed during its 2006 war with Hezbollah.

Qazzi's arrest last month shocked the country and prompted debate on how deeply Israel had infiltrated Lebanon's telecoms and security sectors.
That does explain how the cell phones of everyone important in Lebanon rang just before the last Israel invasion, with a canned message advising them to keep their heads down until it was over.
President Michel Suleiman, who under Lebanese law must sign a death sentence before it is carried out, has called for severe punishment for spies. The Cabinet also agreed that death sentences handed down to spies for Israel should be carried out.
May God watch over their souls, for their bodies are beyond aiding.

Posted by: Fred 2010-07-16
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=301148