Secretary General of the Lebanese Hizbollah group, Hassan Nasrallah, said that the Israeli officer captured by the group is an army colonel who worked with the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad) and was arrested after he was tricked into Lebanon by a quiet and intricate security operation.
He said it is a legitimate and legal right of the resistance movement to capture him.
Nasrallah told a news conference, which was broadcast on Beirut’s Al-Manar television station, that the captive officer had worked for a long time to infiltrate Hizbollah.
Revealing details of the operation, Nasrallah said Hizbollah received a tip about a ‘party’ collecting information on a group of people. ”They recruited them to conduct an intelligence mission, and it became clear that it was an Israeli intelligence group” who contacted a ‘cadre’ of the Lebanese group who, in turn, reported to its security apparatus.
He said Hizbollah security officials then worked out the plan to trick the officer into captivity.
Nasrallah said that the “foreign intelligence agency” was provided with information which was important, but not damaging, to the resistance movement, in order to enhance the relationship between the Hizbollah branch and the “go between”.
Following several attempts by the intelligence agency to meet with a Hizbollah official in a European country, Nasrallah said, the agent was finally convinced to travel to Lebanon,“ he entered Lebanon in a legal way carrying a foreign passport, which he later admitted was forged”. Nasrallah said Hizbollah was then able to confirm that he was an Israeli army colonel working with Mossad and he was detained in Lebanon. The captured officer, Nasrallah said, was “ a former artillery commander who took part in Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon and the bombardment of Beirut and its suburbs, and lives with his family in Tel Aviv and not in Europe.”
The Hizbollah secretary general didn’t reveal the name of the Israeli agent, but the Israeli defence ministry confirmed Sunday that an Israeli citizen named Alhanan Sheinbaum, who lives abroad, was kidnapped 10 days ago.
Israel radio said he lived in Tel Aviv and was an airforce reservist officer working with two major Israeli electronic appliances and armament companies who was kidnapped in Lausanne, Switzerland -- Albawaba.com
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
