Lebanon frees ex-general convicted of spying for Israel

Fayez Karam, who led Lebanon’s counterespionage unit in the 1980s, is released after nine months

3 April 2012, 5:14 pm Edit
US Soldiers training members of the Lebanese Armed Forces in Lebanon, May 2011 (photo credit: CC-BY-Georgia National Guard, Flickr)
US Soldiers training members of the Lebanese Armed Forces in Lebanon, May 2011 (photo credit: CC-BY-Georgia National Guard, Flickr)

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese judicial officials say a former army general who was sentenced to two years in prison for giving information to Israel has been freed.

Tuesday’s release of former Brig. Gen. Fayez Karam came days after parliament reduced his sentence to nine months.

He was sent to prison in mid-2010, said the officials on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Lebanon and Israel are in a state of war. Spying for Israel can be punishable by death.

In the late 1980s, Karam led Lebanon’s counterespionage unit. Karam, who ran for parliament in 2009, is a senior member of the Free Patriotic Movement of Christian leader Michel Aoun, an ally of the powerful militant Islamic Hezbollah.

More than 100 people have been arrested in Lebanon since 2009 on suspicion of spying.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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