Algeria busts Israeli spy ring

Published January 14th, 2017 - 02:00 GMT
Members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, hold a banner bearing a portrait of Mohammed al-Zoari in Gaza City on December 18, 2016. (AFP/Mahmud Hams)
Members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, hold a banner bearing a portrait of Mohammed al-Zoari in Gaza City on December 18, 2016. (AFP/Mahmud Hams)

Algerian security forces have reportedly disbanded an international espionage network working for the Israeli regime in the North African country.

Algeria’s Annahar newspaper reported that the 10 members of the spy ring were arrested in Ghardaia Province on Friday over allegations of fueling chaos and insecurity.

The detainees, who have Libyan, Malian, Ethiopian, Ghanaian, Nigerian and Kenyan nationalities, are currently being interrogated, the report added.

Meanwhile, el-Bilad daily said that initial information shows those taken into custody were working for the Tel Aviv regime

The spy cell used modern and sophisticated telecommunication and visual devices to spy on Algeria’s security organizations, the report noted.

It went on to say that he arrested spies were also in possession of CDs containing Hebrew texts, videos of protests in Algeria, documents and statements promoting sedition, and phone numbers of people inside and outside the African country who were encouraged to join the spy cell.

There are no official diplomatic relations between Israel and Algeria.

Over the past years, African countries have arrested and sentenced several people on charges of espionage for the regime in Israel.

In 2015, a court in Egypt handed down a jail sentence to a man found guilty of spying for Israel in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

Earlier this month, Tunisia said the Tel Aviv regime is suspected of being behind the recent assassination of Mohamed Zaouari, an aviation engineer with ties to the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas.

 
 

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