A Lebanese colonel suspected of spying for Israel fled to the Jewish State last week, according to a Lebanese security source. Two additional colonels were arrested for suspicion of spying for Israel in an episode that led to more than 50 arrests. Twenty of the suspects arrested were given indictment orders.
Lebanon issued an official complaint to the United Nations and claimed that spying in Lebanese territory is an infringement of the U.N.’s call for a ceasefire after Israel’s war in Lebanon three years ago.
A wave of arrests started last April, when a Lebanese brigadier general was arrested for suspicion of spying for Israel. Lebanon has called the arrests as “a hard hit” for Israeli intelligence. The Hizbullah terrorist organization has demanded the death penalty for those involved.
Last month, Lebanese officials told the Associated Press that a colonel in the Lebanese army was arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel. Another colonel was arrested on similar charges several days earlier.
The crackdown on alleged spies began weeks before a hotly contested national election saw the current government face off against the Hizbullah-led pro-Syrian minority bloc. Officials say the investigation into alleged Israeli spy cells will continue in the coming months.
On Tuesday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel and Lebanon, who are officially at war, to strive for a permanent ceasefire in order to end the tension between the two countries.
He said that Israel must complete its withdrawal from the “blue line”, the area that separates between Israeli and Lebanese forces. Ban added that Lebanon must secure its border with Syria and prevent arms smuggling, as stipulated in the United Nations resolution that ended the Second Lebanon War three years ago.