Egyptian security on Thursday arrested members of an alleged spy ring that has been operating for Iran since 2008, according to Kuwaiti paper al-Gareeda. The ring has been collecting information about tourist groups in Egypt and communications between Egyptian travel agencies and their European counterparts. The members of the ring possessed highly advanced communications equipment normally reserved for intelligence agencies, the paper said. The ring--which consists of three Egyptians and one Gulf national with Iranian origins--has been gathering information about investment and tourist activity in Egypt. Apart from the communications equipment, security also seized banned maps of the Sinai Peninsula, US$120,000, several books written in Farsi code and an advanced computer, according to the paper. The Egyptian suspects include an employee who works at EgyptAir, a travel agency owner, and an employee for the Ministry of Tourism. A fourth suspect hails from the Gulf but has not yet been arrested, the paper quoted one of its sources as saying. The four suspects have been using an apartment in Zamalek for meetings and training since 2008. Preliminary investigations reveal that the role of the three Egyptian suspects was to prepare reports on tourists groups that visit Egypt, their nationalities and the times of their visits. They also gathered information about tourist landmarks and details about tourist investments in Egypt. According to the paper, the suspects used to send their information to the fourth suspect and exchange data with him/her via a Persian-language internet website. The three Egyptian suspects said they have been cooperating with the other suspects in order to establish tourist projects in Egypt and not for spying purposes. They said the equipment and money seized belong to the fourth suspect. The three also claimed that the high-tech mobile phone they had was given to them by the fourth suspect and they did not know it could be used for spying. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
