Lebanon: Israeli spy gadgets on display

With mounting news of arrests in Lebanon of Palestinians and Lebanese accused of spying for Israel, it doesn’t come as a surprise that some proof is being paraded before the press.

Yesterday, the Lebanese police held a show-and-tell with the spy gadgets seized during the arrests. The devices included an Igloo water cooler outfitted with landscape-surveying sensors, a car battery charger that was allegedly used for storing and transmitting data and USB memory sticks with intricate maps of Lebanon.

According to the police, some of the maps demarcate bridges and military posts targeted by Israeli bombs in the 2006 war against the Lebanon-based, Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.

Lebanese officials say they have identified and arrested 14 spies with ties to Israel’s Mossad in this most recent bout of spy-hunting. The campaign to ferret out those operating on behalf of Israel in the ongoing espionage war between the two countries is not a new one – but it certainly seems to be coming to a head.

As a police officer showed off the sequestered goods at HQ, he explained: “Based on the investigation, it appears that their basic logistics mission focused on defining locations, targets, buildings and outposts as demanded by the enemy intelligence.”

The officer read from a pre-prepared statement and would not answer any questions. His colleague, whose identity was shielded by a black mask, displayed the gadgets, which were reportedly given to the agents by the Mossad. The spies were to use the gadgets to monitor specific people and strategic targets and to conduct surveys of Lebanese and Syrian territory.

The agents, said the officer, used the equipment to transmit intel via “coded radio messages” through satellite or the Internet. One of the coded transmission gadgets on display was fitted into a cabinet.

Apparently also in the agents’ possession were forged Lebanese passports and blank job apps the police say were to be used by potential Mossad recruits. This spate of arrests has come about largely from information provided by the Lebanese ex-general who last month was arrested for spying for Israel.

The Israeli government has of course made no comments on the arrests, and the public is left to wonder what fate awaits the rounded-up spies and how the arrests will affect Israeli intelligence ops against the recognized terrorist group.

photo courtesy of www.ynetnews.com (AFP)