A Lebanese prosecutor charged four people on Thursday with spying for Israel. Retired brigadier general Adib al-Alam of the prominent General Security directorate, his wife and nephew were arrested recently by the Lebanese police. The fourth person linked is still at large, according to judicial sources. If indicted and later convicted by a military court, they face the death penalty.
The four were charged with establishing contact with Israel's Mossad spy agency "and supplying it with information about military and civilian Lebanese and Syrian centers with the aim of facilitating its aggressive acts". General al-Alam was cited for possession of weapons. He and his wife, Hayat Saloumi were charged with visiting "the enemy country" without permission.
Since his retirement from the army, al-Alam has run an agency that imports Asian domestic workers. Among the several sensitive positions under his command at the General Security headquarters was the passport department. Security forces began monitoring his activity shortly after Israel's war against Hizbullah in 2006. He reportedly told investigators that he had been working for Israel since 1984.