prison
prisonIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Alleged Mossad operative Ben Zygier, known as Prisoner X prior to committing suicide in Israeli prison in 2010, leaked sensitive information to Hizbullah which led to the arrest of two Lebanese informants, the German paper Der Spiegel reported on Sunday.

According to the German news weekly, Zygier transferred the names of Siad al-Homsi and Mustafa ali Awadeh, who were subsequently arrested by the Shi’ite organization in May 2009 and sentenced to prison on charges of espionage.

According to the article, which cites an internal investigative report obtained by Der Spiegel, Zyiger was enlisted into the Mossad in 2003 and assigned to work with European companies doing business in Iran and Syria.

Zygier was then ordered to return to Israel in 2007 after he failed to meet the expectations of the Israeli intelligence agency.  He then quit the service in 2008 and returned to his native home of Melbourne, Australia.

Zygier was arrested in February 2010 and charged with security offenses that have thus far remained unknown to the public. A judicial inquiry in Israel found that Zygier, 34, hanged himself on December 15, 2010 with a bedsheet tied to the bars over a window in the bathroom of his heavily-guarded prison cell.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr ordered an investigation into the case, saying he woulf ask the Israeli government for details on how Zygier managed to kill himself while under such tight supervision.

Israel has said he was detained under an alias to avoid severe harm to national interests.

Much of the details in Zygier's case remain under gag orders in Israel.