Israel 'sleepers' unmasked in Lebanon

They were allegedly sleeper cells of spies set up by Israel to build up a "database" on the secretive Hezbollah until Lebanon unmasked them with the arrest of a retired security officer. The moles had for years fed Israel with data on the Shiite militants and other groups, including the army, using sophisticated transmission equipment, according to Lebanese security officials and experts. Before Israel's 34-day devastating war on Hezbollah in the summer of 2006, "there were sleeper cells which had limited room to manoeuvre," a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "Since the beginning of 2009 these spies became more active and left traces which helped us track them down," he added. The authorities have arrested at least 17 suspected spies working for Israel since January. The latest four, two pairs of brothers, were picked up on Friday in southern Lebanon. Lebanon and Israel are technically at war and if found guilty the suspected spies could be sentenced to death on charges of high treason. Most of the suspects are Lebanese who held normal jobs, while at least one of them is Palestinian. The master stroke was the arrest in April of retired general security officer Adib al-Aalam, his wife Hayat Saloumi and nephew Joseph Aalam who admitted they had spied for Israel for more than 15 years. The arrest of Aalam, who ran a housekeeping service in Beirut that he allegedly used as a front, was the key for the authorities to unravel the sleeper cells, according to officials. Among the suspects nabbed since January are Lebanese petrol station owner Marwan Fakih, Palestinian Mohammed Awad and two other Lebanese citizens, car dealer Mustafa Awada and butcher Ali Mantash. Policeman Haytham Sahmarani and his wife were arrested on May 3 in the capital's southern suburbs -- the Hezbollah stronghold flattened in Israeli air raids in 2006. They were allegedly recruited by Sahmarani's sister, a resident of Israel since 2000. Israel's aim was to use these people to build a "database of targets" linked to Hezbollah which it could use if a new operation or war is launched on Lebanon, security officials say. "The Israelis realised after 2006 that they did not have a 'targets bank' which they could use to pinpoint their attacks," namely on the southern suburbs, said Randa Haidar, a journalist and expert on Israeli affairs. During the 2006 war, Israel pounded the so-called "security perimeter" in the southern suburbs where Hezbollah has its offices, but failed to take out any leaders of the militant movement. According to a Lebanese army intelligence officer, the Israelis had instructed their agents in Lebanon during the 2006 war to gather information on targets hit in the repeated bombardments of the suburbs. "Agents have admitted that Israel asked them to get information on Lebanese army positions and those of Hezbollah, and to pinpoint them on maps as accurately as possible," the officer told AFP on condition of anonymity. Military expert and retired army general Elias Hanna said "Israel wants tactical information on Hezbollah, specifically on the location of its leaders, its rockets, its telecommunications network." "But spying on Hezbollah is very difficult because it is a very secretive, underground organisation," he said, adding that the Shiite movement had provided the authorities with information leading to many arrests. Hezbollah has said it provided information leading to the arrests of Aalam, his wife and his nephew who were charged in April with spying for Israel. According to security officials, the suspected spies travelled to Israel by transiting through a third country to train in the use of sophisticated transmission equipment. "In Israel they were trained to use ultra-sophisticated satellite telecommunication systems," which they smuggled back into Lebanon, the official said. Aalam's communication system was concealed in a small fridge like the ones found in hotel rooms, while butcher Ali Mantash had a special wire connected to his computer that he used to pass on information, one security offical said. "These people were only motivated by the lure of financial gain," he added.