2 Egyptians Charged With Spying for Israel

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/19/world/middleeast/egyptians-charged-with-spying-for-israel.html

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CAIRO — Prosecutors announced Tuesday that they had arrested two Egyptian citizens on charges of spying for Israel, saying the suspects had confessed to supplying Israeli agents with information on Egypt’s military, its political movements and about the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

The prosecutors also announced charges against two Israeli citizens, saying they were agents of Israel’s spy service, Mossad, but the whereabouts of the suspects, identified as Samuel Ben Zeev and David Wiseman, were unclear. The Israeli government, which rarely responds to allegations of espionage, did not immediately comment on the latest charges.

In a statement, Egypt’s chief prosecutor described a plot dating back to 2009, when it said one of the Egyptian suspects, Ramzy al-Shebbeny, traveled to Italy and reached out to the Mossad, telling them of his “love for Israel.” Sometime afterward, Mr. Shebbeny traveled to Austria and met with one of the Israeli agents named in the indictment, the prosecutors said.

Mr. Shebbeny recruited the second Egyptian, a woman named Sahar Salamah, a magazine journalist, the statement alleged. The two sent reports to the Israelis on topics ranging from Egyptian public opinion to military movements in return for about $125,000 and other gifts.

The prosecutors also alleged that Mr. Shebbeny met with Israeli agents in several countries including Belgium, Denmark, France and Greece, and “had sexual intercourse with women in Israeli intelligence who were pushed in his way to watch him and guarantee control over him.”