Lebanese colonel admits spying for Israel

Lebanese Army Colonel Mansour Diab has reportedly received a princely sum from Israel to perform various acts of espionage against Lebanon and Syria.

According to the Beirut-based As Safir newspaper, Diab pleaded guilty to supplying Israel's Mossad intelligence agency with confidential information on the Hezbollah resistance movement and the Syrian military.

His conspiracies continued until the Israeli pullout from southern Lebanon in 2005.

Israeli espionage activities against Hezbollah have been on the rise in recent months with Lebanese authorities arresting at least 25 alleged Israeli spies since January.

"Nasser Nader, his girlfriend Nawal Maaluf, Mustafa Said and Samer Abu Arraj, who remains at large, are charged with having provided information on civilian and military posts and political figures with the aim of facilitating assassinations," a judicial source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The two suspects had allegedly passed on information about Ghaleb Awali, a senior Hezbollah member whom Israel killed in cold blood in a Beirut car bombing in 2004.

Lebanon, which considers itself at war with Israel, bans its citizens from having any contact with Tel Aviv. PressTV