Spy Arrested in Lebanon

According to a report by the Lebanese Al Akhbar website, the intelligence unit of the Lebanese army has arrested an official of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) in the Palestinian Rashidiya Camp near the Lebanese city of Sour.
The detainee has confessed to having links with Israelis since 2006 and the dossier has been referred to Lebanese military court, the report added.
Lebanon has disbanded tens of Israeli spy cells during the last three years and has arrested more than 150 Israeli spies.
In November 2011, US officials said Hezbollah had unraveled the CIA’s spy network in Lebanon and arrested dozens of informants, severely damaging the intelligence agency’s reputation and ability to gather vital information on the country at a sensitive time in the region.
The blow to the CIA’s operations in Lebanon came after top agency managers were alerted last year to be especially careful when handling informants in the Middle East country.
In June 2011, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said two of the group’s members had been arrested on suspicion of being affiliated with the CIA, and a third was held for working either for the CIA or for European or Israeli intelligence agencies.
A former US intelligence official who worked in the region said US operatives have been “battling for most of the last decade” in a shadow war with what he described as Hezbollah’s extremely effective counterintelligence operatives.
Over the years, Hezbollah has proven persistent and successful both in spotting CIA informants within its ranks and in trying to plant its own double agents on the CIA, the former official said.
One frequent tactic used by the group, the former official said, is to send “walk-in” operatives into US embassies in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries claiming to have information about attacks being planned against US targets.
Instead of having information about real attack planning, however, the “walk-ins” use their visits to US embassy buildings to gather information about embassy security measures and procedures which could then be used to plan possible attacks, according to the former official.
Robert Baer, a former CIA operations officer whose books inspired the Hollywood movie Syriana, said that Hezbollah’s counterintelligence capabilities are formidable and should not be underestimated.
“Hezbollah’s security is as good as any in the world’s. It’s the best. It’s better than that of the KGB,” the former Soviet spy agency, Baer said.
Hezbollah, founded during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, has grown from a militia that fought Israeli forces in South Lebanon into the most powerful political and military force in the country.
Baer said one reason Hezbollah has been successful in rooting out spies is that it has managed to find access to US equipment to identify and track down CIA informants.
US officials were coy about the extent and seriousness of CIA losses. But they said damage to US intelligence was serious enough for extensive briefings and discussions to have been held with congressional oversight committees. A congressional source said any discussions remain classified.
Hezbollah and Iran are major targets of interest for US spy agencies and the White House.