Egypt charges alleged Israeli spy

An Egyptian state security prosecutor says the country’s authorities have charged a local businessman and two Israelis for recruiting agents in Arab countries to spy for Israel.

Prosecutor Hisham Badawi said a businessman named Tarek Hassan arrested earlier in August was charged with harming the country’s national interests.

The two other Israelis have been charged in absentia.

Hassan, the 37-year-old owner of a trading firm, allegedly received money to search for potential agents working for telecommunication companies in Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon to spy for the Israeli intelligence agency.

Over the course of the past few months, Lebanon has arrested a number of telecommunication spies working for Israel.

The counter-espionage operation has dealt a serious blow to Israel’s intelligence gathering operations in Lebanon.

It was not immediately clear whether Hassan’s case was related to the Lebanese telecom spy trail.