Cairo: An espionage network working for
Israel has been identified in Egypt, a top official of the country has said.
Main member of the network Ziad Hussien has travelled a
number of times to Israel and was trained by Israeli
intelligence, Egypt's prosecutor general Abd-al-Megeid Mahmud
announced yesterday.
The main activity of the network was to interfere in the
path of phones calls made by influential figures in Egypt and
transfer them to Israel.
Members of the network had communication offices in the
Cairo suburb of Maadi, he said.
Last week news sites had reported that employees of
Egyptian cellular service provider Mobinil were allegedly
eavesdropping on phone calls of Egyptian ministers and later
selling the information they obtained but the company
categorically denied such claims.
Meanwhile Egyptian authorities have also nabbed a local
businessman Tarek Hassan on charges of spying. Hassan has been
accused of searching people working for telecommunication
companies in the Egypt, Syria and Lebanon who could could spy
for Israel.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 16:22