August 12, 2010 - Daily Star - Judge issues arrest warrant against Karam for spying

By The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghayda issued an arrest warrant against retired Brigadier General Fayez Karam after interrogating him, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Wednesday.

Lebanon’s military court charged the former army general and high-profile member of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) with spying for the state of Israel on Tuesday.

Military prosecutor Sakr Sakr had charged Karam with helping Israeli intelligence and providing it with information on Hizbullah and the FPM, Hizbullah’s key Christian ally. Karam is charged with meeting Israeli officials outside Lebanon and passing on information secured through meetings between his FPM party and Hizbullah in exchange for money, the source added. Karam was arrested last week, becoming the first political figure to be detained in Lebanon as part of an Israeli-spy probe launched in 2009.

The 62-year-old headed the Lebanese Army’s anti-terrorism and counterespionage unit during the 1980s and was close to FPM leader Michel Aoun, who was army chief toward the end of the 1975-1990 Civil War.

Last year Karam – who runs a dry-cleaning business in France – stood in parliamentary polls.

More than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of spying for the Israeli Mossad since April 2009, including members of the security forces as well as telecom employees.

Three men have since been sentenced to death, including one found guilty of aiding Israel during its devastating summer 2006 war against Lebanon.

Commenting on Karam’s arrest, Aoun said Wednesday Karam’s case was “an exception in the FPM while it was the rule in other parties,” adding that political rhetoric by certain internal parties in favor of Israeli stances was worse than spying for Israel. – The Daily Star