Two suspected Lebanon spies flee to Israel

Two Lebanese men suspected of spying for Israel fled across the heavily fortified border to Israel Monday, as security officials also said authorities arrested two more alleged Lebanese collaborators.

The Lebanese government has intensified its campaign against suspected spies for Israel in recent weeks, arresting more than a dozen people. Lebanon considers itself at war with Israel, and spying for or collaborating with the country can be punishable by death.

The arrests, mainly in southern Lebanon, appear to be part of a stepped-up campaign against those suspected of gathering information on Hezbollah militants for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency. Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006 that killed 1,200 people in Lebanon and 159 in Israel.

The two men who escaped to Israel on Monday crossed the border near the village of Yaroun with their children, said a senior military official.

It was the second time suspected spies have escaped to Israel since the government stepped up its arrests. A man wanted by authorities escaped in a similar manner on May 5, said a top security official.

It was unclear how they managed get past the border fence without triggering the electronic alarms that have alerted Israelis to similar infiltrations in the past. Lebanese citizens who try to sneak into Israel are normally detained, questioned and sent back to Lebanon.

There was no immediate word from Israel, which has declined to comment on the recent espionage allegations.

Meanwhile, authorities arrested two suspected spies over the weekend in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley, said security officials. Security forces seized transmission devices in related raids, they said.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Nine of the 15 people arrested in recent weeks have been charged with collaborating with Israel. They include a retired general, his wife and his nephew, a government security agent.

Last week, police displayed sophisticated devices they said were seized from Palestinians living in the country and from Lebanese recruited by Israel to spy on Hezbollah.