CAIRO: Public Prosecutor Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud referred an Egyptian businessman and two Israelis accused of spying on behalf of Israel to the State Security High Court. The two Israelis were referred in absentia. On Monday, State Security Prosecutor Hisham Badawi said in a press conference that Tarek Abdel-Razek Hussain Hassan, a 37-year old import-export trader, had been arrested last August. The two Israelis accused in the case were identified as Idi Moshe and Joseph Demore. The three are officially being charged with spying for Israel and harming Egypt's national interest, as attempts to recruit spies in Syria and Lebanon endangered Egypt's relations with both countries. According to the charges, the three men were conspiring to seek out officials working in the telecommunication industry who might be amenable to supplying information to Israel. The charge list also accuses Hassan of searching for suitable Syrian and Lebanese candidates who would then be approached by an Israeli operative in Syria. According to the charges, these activities began in May 2008 when Hassan met with the two Israeli handlers abroad. Hassan has also been accused of trying to recruit younger Egyptians for information, and two telephone centers had been set up in London and Cairo to eavesdrop on conversations of Egyptian officials, which were later routed to a third center in Tel Aviv. According to Badawi, Hassan was paid $37,000 for his efforts. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology denied initial reports that had indicated that two people arrested in conjunction with an Israeli spy ring were employees of the ministry. Israel has denied any knowledge of the case. Israeli foreign ministry official Yigal Palmor told AP, “We are not familiar with the charges. We will have to look into it to understand what this is all about.” According to AP, authorities announced that 4 Egyptians had been arrested in May on charges of spying for Israel. Two Israelis had also been accused in that spy ring but were still at large. This spy ring is being charged with plotting to kidnap tourists in the Sinai peninsula. Badawi did not announce whether there was any connection between the two alleged rings, the only similarity being that there are two Israelis being charged in absentia in both cases.
