Lebanon-Israel border at Rosh Hanikra (file)
Lebanon-Israel border at Rosh Hanikra (file)Israel news photo: Flash 90

A former Lebanese army general arrested last summer has been sentenced by the country's military court for passing sensitive information to Israel.

Retired Lebanese Army General Fayez Karam was found guilty of contacting Israeli intelligence, according to a source quoted by the AFP news agency.

Karam was sentenced to two years in prison for leaking the information, “mainly on Hizbullah and its ally the Christian Free Patriotic Movement (FPM),” said the source. However, the court exonerated him of charges of spying for Israel.
Fayez Karam, 62, was the first political figure to be detained in the sting operation that rounded up suspected spies for Israel. A member of FPM, Karam had headed the army's anti-terrorism and counter espionage unit in the 1980s. He was once close to Michael Aoun, 78, a Maronite Christian who is currently a member of the Lebanese parliament and who has led the FPM since 2005.

In addition, Lebanese fugitive Elias Karam was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison. Karam was accused of introducing the retired general to Israeli officers while in Paris.

Since 2009, more than 100 Lebanese citizens have been accused of spying for Israel. Several have been convicted on the charges and sentenced to death.