CAIRO - Egyptian State Security Department has uncovered a spy ring that included two Israelis and an Egyptian businessman helping them recruit operatives working for telecoms companies, State Security Prosecutor Hisham Badawi said. "State security prosecutors have announced a spying network that included an Egyptian and two Israelis," said Badawi. According to a document shown to reporters by Badawi during a press conference, security officials arrested the 37-year-old Egyptian, the owner of an import-export firm, in August on charges of spying for Israel in cooperation with the two Israelis, who had already left Egypt. It alleged the Egyptian accepted $37,000 in exchange for providing them with information about Egyptians working in telecommunications companies who could be recruited by the spy ring in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. "Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud ordered the referral of three accused defendants, who included two Israeli fugitives and an detained Egyptian, to the Emergency State Security Court on the charges of spying for Israel and harming the country's national interests," Badawi told reporters. In occupied Jerusalem, an Israeli official declined immediate comment on the allegations. Egypt has maintained strong diplomatic and economic ties with Israel since they signed a peace accord three decades ago.
