'Spy' tried to track down Nasrallah

One of the tasks assigned to an alleged spy ring member arrested in Lebanon in recent weeks, who Lebanese media say worked for Israeli intelligence, was to locate the hideout of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

The Lebanese daily As-Safir, which has links to Hezbollah, reported Wednesday that the suspect, Ziad Homsi, arrested in Lebanon, admitted that Israel had asked him to try and meet Nasrallah "so that Israel could follow Homsi's route from his home town to the place where he would meet Nasrallah." Homsi failed in his task, according to the report.

The commander of internal security in Lebanon, General Ashraf Rifai, described Hosmi as "a very important agent" in the Israeli espionage ring. Homsi was the publisher of a journal and active in the political movement of Saad Hariri, The Future, which is a Hezbollah rival. According to the Lebanese media, Homsi told his interrogators that he was recruited to work for Israeli intelligence four years ago, and his motive was financial because of "financial difficulties." He reportedly said that he received $100,000 for his services, and claimed that he is still owed another $100,000.

Under the typical division of labor in Israeli intelligence, the Mossad operates agents through Tzomet (the section charged with running agents) and Caesarea (an operations unit) who are recruited in "base countries," and from there are sent on missions to "target countries" - enemy states or against terrorist groups. Military Intelligence also has a unit for running agents, known as Unit 540. According to the way labor is divided between Mossad and Military Intelligence, 504 is charged with operating agents in Israel's border areas with Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.

In theory, the division of tasks between the Mossad and 504 is supposed to be clear-cut, but past experience has shown that despite efforts at coordination, sometimes the activities of one organization can harm those of the other.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television reported Thursday that since January, 18 Lebanese citizens have been arrested on suspicion of belonging to an Israeli espionage operation. The stories of some of those held, as they are presented in the Lebanese media, are fascinating and offer a rare glimpse into the methods of operation, the goals and equipment that Israeli intelligence is allegedly using. For example, communications equipment was stored in a simple backpack, a splint and crutches. Presumably the equipment was for the use of a handicapped agent, Ali al-Hayek, a math teacher from the village of Kleya, near Metulla, who reportedly managed to flee to Israel before being arrested on suspicion of belonging to the ring.

Were it not for Rifai's claim that Homsi was the ring leader, it would have been reasonable to assume that another suspect led the group: Brigadier General (ret.) Adiv Alem, who was arrested more than a month ago. Reportedly he set up an agency for importing foreign workers to Lebanon, and thus met with foreign agents and helped them recruit other agents.

Analysts in Israel have guessed that one reason for the agents' capture was a problem in communications. Rifai rejected this possibility, claiming in As-Safir that a "technical secret" exposed the agents, and promised that more details would be revealed in the future.

It is also possible that the Lebanese exaggerate the involvement of Israel in their country. Hezbollah and its leader, Nasrallah, have a political interest in emphasizing such activities, with an eye to the general elections scheduled to take place next month - in order to give the impression that they are actively leading resistance to Israel.