Lebanon complains to U.N. about Israeli ‘spy device’

Lebanon complained to the United Nations on Saturday, accusing Israel of having attached a spy device to a telephone network in the south of the country, the official ANI news agency said. The foreign ministry made the complaint to the Security Council “following the discovery on December 2 of a device attached to a telephone network in the valley between Srifa and Deir Kifa,” the report said. “This incident constitutes a violation of Lebanese sovereignty, (Security Council) Resolution 1701, international law and the United Nations Charter, and is a menace to international peace,” it added. Resolution 1701, adopted in August 2006, brought to an end a devastating 34-day war between Israel and the powerful Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah, which controls much of southern Lebanon. On December 2, Hezbollah accused Israel of using a drone to blow up a spy device allegedly monitoring communications in southern Lebanon after Hezbollah had discovered it. Israel has refrained from any comment on the claim. Hezbollah is carrying out a campaign against presumed U.S. and Israeli espionage in Lebanon, and claims to have discovered CIA agents among its ranks. Since April 2009, more than 100 people − mostly military personnel and telecoms employees − have been arrested on charges of spying for Israel.