The Lebanese army has arrested another Israeli spy. But how many more remain, Omayma Abdel-Latif asks from Beirut Sharbel Qazi, known in the media as the "communication informant", has the profile of a typical Israeli spy. He has relatives in Israel who previously served in Israel's proxy militia, the South Lebanon Army, during the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon, was well travelled, and accumulated wealth that did not match his modest abilities. He was recruited by one of his relatives in Israel. When caught, Qazi was a senior technician responsible for transmission and broadcasting with the Alfa telecommunications firm, one of the two cellular phone networks in Lebanon. This entitled him access to a treasure trove of data that allowed the Israelis to easily penetrate the network and run its operations when and how they wanted. Qazi was charged with "supplying Israel with sensitive information that harmed Lebanese national security." Under initial investigation, Qazi told authorities he had been an Israeli agent since 1996. Army sources said "the investigation will take its time, since the agent is extremely dangerous," and that the investigation was seeking to determine whether he was part of a wider network. Qazi was the latest capture in an 18- month crackdown aimed at dismantling an extensive Israeli espionage ring in Lebanon. The wave of arrests began in April 2009 with the detention of a former brigadier general of the General Security directorate. More than 70 people, including policemen and security officials, have been detained since the start of the crackdown. The latest was in February, when the Lebanese army arrested six people, including retired security officials, on suspicion of spying as part of two separate Israeli-linked espionage networks operating in the north and south of the country. In March, a Lebanese military judge filed a case against four people on charges of collaborating with Israel. The suspects had reportedly been giving information on military sites, civilians and Hizbullah officials. More than 20 people since have been indicted and could face the death penalty for treason. The extended hunt for Israeli agents in Lebanon has been described as one of Israel's worst ever intelligence setbacks. Lebanese security officials believe the arrests have seriously disrupted Israeli intelligence operations in the country. The hunt also revealed how the network was spreading wider, including a Lebanese army colonel from the Christian area of Akkar in northern Lebanon who commanded the military's Special Forces School, a deputy mayor of Saadnayel, a Sunni town in the eastern Beqaa Valley, and even a retired general from Internal Security Forces in South Lebanon. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, commenting on the latest arrests, said it they gave evidence of how deep Israeli intelligence infiltration of Lebanese society was at different levels. Jumblatt called for the death penalty for those charged with treason. While questions have been raised about what role Hizbullah took in exposing and dismantling Israel's informant networks, the resistance movement had been keen to keep a low profile on the arrests, treating them as the work of the Lebanese army. Loyalty to the Resistance MP Mohamed Raad was ambiguous: "the resistance (Hizbullah) is not ignoring Israeli espionage networks; the gamble is on the neglect or inattention of the Lebanese security apparatuses." Hizbullah and its leadership has been the primary target of most of the Israeli espionage rings. Investigations show how the majority of informants admitted to having played key roles in identifying Hizbullah targets bombed during Israel's 2006 war against Lebanon. The arrests so far have surely dealt a serious blow to Israeli espionage activities in Lebanon at a time when Israel is making frequent threats of waging another war. Yet despite all efforts by the Lebanese security services to dismantle the Israeli spy networks in their entirety, the uncovering of further networks also suggests that what has been discovered so far could be but the tip of an iceberg.
