Retired Lebanese brigadier-general Adeeb al-Alam, and three others, have been charged with spying for Israel. A fourth person linked to the cell has not yet been detained.
Al-Alam was arrested with his wife in the southern Lebanese city of Bint Jbeil. He worked with the General Security directorate where he held a number of sensitive posts, including a position with the passport department. Most recently he had been running an agency that imports Asian domestic workers.
Lebanese media says he has worked for Israel since 1984. It is claimed that the most intensive monitoring of his activities took place after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Al-Alam is charged with supplying the Israeli spy agency Mossad with "information about military and civilian Lebanese and Syrian centers with the aim of facilitating its aggressive acts."
Even though al-Alam has been running a domestic worker agency, he also kept an office at the HQ of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces. Prosecutors claim that he used the office to send classified information to Mossad.
If al-Alam and co-accused are found guilty, they could face the death penalty.
The bust has been described by local media as a major blow for Israel's spying networks.
The charges against al-Alam follow the arrest of Ali al-Jarrah last July. His spying career has been described as 'a real-life John le Carré novel'.
Ali al-Jarrah
Al-Jarrah was arrested by Hezbollah along with his brother Yusuf, who allegedly helped him in his spying activities. The two were handed over to the Lebanese military.
It is claimed that al-Jarrah spoke with his Israeli handlers by satellite phone, received "dead drops" of cash, cameras and listening devices and that he photographed roads and convoys that may have been used for transporting weapons to Hezbollah.
