US inquiry on Lebanon’s telecom network raises alarm

Lebanese lawmakers and high-ranking officials have held informal talks after it was publicized that the US Embassy has inquired about details concerning Lebanon’s mobile phone service providers.

“They had requested access to very detailed information on the mobile phone service providers in Lebanon — the stations, the antennas, technical information,” Lebanese Energy Minister Gebran Bassil told AFP.

“No one should request this information, whoever they are and for whatever end,” he added.

Lebanon’s As-Safir daily published the story about the April inquiry on Friday with the heading, ‘US embassy spies on Lebanon.’

The report prompted a meeting on Monday between parliament’s information and telecommunications committee and a large number of high-level officials, including the interior minister and the chief of police.

As the telecommunications minister at the time of the US inquiry, Bassil confirmed that he had turned it down.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah warned on Sunday that the embassy engaged in espionage activities for Israel, cautioning that such collaboration may lead to the “destruction” of Lebanon.

“All the information which the US embassy gathers in Beirut reaches Israel,” he said. “What is the difference between espionage networks, which give information directly, or giving information by mediation, meaning giving it to the US Embassy who then gives it to the Israeli side?”