Egypt claims to bust local spy ring ‘that worked for Mossad’

Egyptian security forces apprehended a spy ring of Egyptians working for the Mossad in northern Sinai, Egyptian media reported on Sunday.

Major General Samih Ahmad Bashadi, head of security in northern Sinai, told independent Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm that a member of the group arrested in Egyptian Rafah admitted to working with the Mossad, and his case was transferred to military intelligence.

Bashadi said that no documents or eavesdropping devices were found with the prime suspect, whose conversations were recorded following the receipt of intelligence information against him. According to the daily, the suspect traveled frequently between Cairo and the Sinai Peninsula.

Confronted with recordings of his telephone conversations with Mossad handlers and Egyptian citizens, the suspect reportedly confessed to his interrogators that he provided the Mossad with information on Egypt’s military. During the interrogation, the man turned in other members of his network, the reports said.

According to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency, the spy ring included eight members and provided Israel with information on Egyptian military movements.