nawazshahzad
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A mobile phone technician has been charged with spying for Israel by giving it access to Lebanese telecommunications systems for 14 years.
The man, named only as Charbel Q by the government, is the latest to be accused of spying since security forces began a series of arrests last April. He worked for the Alfa mobile phone network, the telecommunications minister Charbel Nahas said.
A Lebanese military intelligence officer said the man was a key manager for technical issues with transmission and broadcast of mobile phone calls. He is a manager and technician for this very specific sort of technology, which unfortunately makes him almost the perfect spy for the enemy, he said.
Although the Lebanese government owns the countrys mobile phone and telecommunications networks, two private companies Alfa and MTC Touch have contracts to operate the network and sell access to consumers.
Because of the mans role on the technical side of Alfas operations, it is assumed that the entire national network has been compromised.
You know how everyone would joke that it was assumed the Israelis could listen to anyones mobile calls? asked the military intelligence officer. Well, we can stop laughing and assuming, because they can.
The officer added that it is unlikely the arrest will immediately stop Israeli military intelligence which has responsibility for covert activity in Lebanon instead of the better-known civilian spy agency Mossad from eavesdropping on mobile phone calls in the short term.
But security officials expressed hope that it would lead to the discovery of other collaborators within the phone networks systems and eventually secure it.
The intelligence officer and a Hizbollah security source said the suspect admitted under interrogation that he had been working for the Israelis for at least 14 years, meaning the damage to Lebanons internal security is considered extensive.
An official with Hizbollah agreed that it was a damaging revelation. The resistance has its own secure communications system for military and security operations, said the source, who works in internal security for the group. But weve long known that mobile phones arent safe for our members during operations; now we must determine if the enemy was able to learn anything from our use of phones for routine business.
Lebanese security officials said Charbels arrest, even after 14 years of spying, was vital to Lebanons security. One described the arrest as more than a hefty catch. He told As-Safir newspaper: This is the very most precious treasure in terms of services and data the detainee has been providing Israel all those years.
The revelation that a member of the Lebanese business community in a key role was allegedly working as an Israeli spy came as little surprise after a campaign of arrests that began in April 2009 by Lebanese security forces.
More than 70 people ranging from top military officials to low-level policemen and ordinary residents of strategic areas have been arrested and accused of collaboration with Israel. As Lebanon remains technically at war with its southern neighbour, such charges are usually accompanied by the death penalty.
The precise number, identity and accusations against many of the accused are hard to determine because most of the cases are referred to Lebanese military courts, which operate in greater secrecy than the already opaque civilian justice system. But in recent months, at least several men both Lebanese and Palestinian refugees have been sentenced to death for plotting the death of a Hizbollah commander in 2004.
International human rights groups have called for greater transparency in these charges and arrests which often result in secret trials for defendants as well as criticising the tendency for Hizbollah to conduct its own investigations and arrests.
Although the group usually turns suspects over to the Lebanese judicial system after independently interrogating the suspects, the practice has rankled many political parties in Lebanon.
Posted in National Newspaper - Source: Pakistan Ideology
Nawaz
The man, named only as Charbel Q by the government, is the latest to be accused of spying since security forces began a series of arrests last April. He worked for the Alfa mobile phone network, the telecommunications minister Charbel Nahas said.
A Lebanese military intelligence officer said the man was a key manager for technical issues with transmission and broadcast of mobile phone calls. He is a manager and technician for this very specific sort of technology, which unfortunately makes him almost the perfect spy for the enemy, he said.
Although the Lebanese government owns the countrys mobile phone and telecommunications networks, two private companies Alfa and MTC Touch have contracts to operate the network and sell access to consumers.
Because of the mans role on the technical side of Alfas operations, it is assumed that the entire national network has been compromised.
You know how everyone would joke that it was assumed the Israelis could listen to anyones mobile calls? asked the military intelligence officer. Well, we can stop laughing and assuming, because they can.
The officer added that it is unlikely the arrest will immediately stop Israeli military intelligence which has responsibility for covert activity in Lebanon instead of the better-known civilian spy agency Mossad from eavesdropping on mobile phone calls in the short term.
But security officials expressed hope that it would lead to the discovery of other collaborators within the phone networks systems and eventually secure it.
The intelligence officer and a Hizbollah security source said the suspect admitted under interrogation that he had been working for the Israelis for at least 14 years, meaning the damage to Lebanons internal security is considered extensive.
An official with Hizbollah agreed that it was a damaging revelation. The resistance has its own secure communications system for military and security operations, said the source, who works in internal security for the group. But weve long known that mobile phones arent safe for our members during operations; now we must determine if the enemy was able to learn anything from our use of phones for routine business.
Lebanese security officials said Charbels arrest, even after 14 years of spying, was vital to Lebanons security. One described the arrest as more than a hefty catch. He told As-Safir newspaper: This is the very most precious treasure in terms of services and data the detainee has been providing Israel all those years.
The revelation that a member of the Lebanese business community in a key role was allegedly working as an Israeli spy came as little surprise after a campaign of arrests that began in April 2009 by Lebanese security forces.
More than 70 people ranging from top military officials to low-level policemen and ordinary residents of strategic areas have been arrested and accused of collaboration with Israel. As Lebanon remains technically at war with its southern neighbour, such charges are usually accompanied by the death penalty.
The precise number, identity and accusations against many of the accused are hard to determine because most of the cases are referred to Lebanese military courts, which operate in greater secrecy than the already opaque civilian justice system. But in recent months, at least several men both Lebanese and Palestinian refugees have been sentenced to death for plotting the death of a Hizbollah commander in 2004.
International human rights groups have called for greater transparency in these charges and arrests which often result in secret trials for defendants as well as criticising the tendency for Hizbollah to conduct its own investigations and arrests.
Although the group usually turns suspects over to the Lebanese judicial system after independently interrogating the suspects, the practice has rankled many political parties in Lebanon.
Posted in National Newspaper - Source: Pakistan Ideology
Nawaz
