Hezbollah uncovers 3-member spy network

Hizbullah has reportedly detained two of its high-ranking officials and a member of a municipality in the eastern Bekaa valley for cooperating with Israel. According to An Nahar newspaper published on Wednesday, the party’s security apparatus was able to expose the three members five days ago. Media reports revealed earlier this month that Hizbullah was able to crack a spying cell that involved three men who resided in Bourj al-Barajneh area in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hizbullah stronghold. The three men according to the reports are not members of Hizbullah but are known for having close relations with high-ranking officials in the party. The first suspect M. H. lived in Ukraine in 1998-2000 and worked at a human smuggling network, where he helped smuggle Lebanese, Palestinian and Iraqi citizens into Europe. He later moved back to Lebanon, and then headed to France where he was supposedly detained on charges of smuggling people. However, the reports said that he wasn’t detained but actually worked with a western intelligence agency that tasked him to monitor the endeavors of an official at Hizbullah who lived close to him in Beirut. The nature of the mission given to the other two alleged spy network members J. J. and M. S. remains obscure, according to the reports.