Mossad mole 'thwarted Hizballah plot to assassinate Olmert'
Mossad mole 'thwarted Hizballah plot to assassinate Olmert'
Israeli agent infiltrated Hizballah and stopped several attempts to avenge the assassination of a top commander, according to sources close to the group.
1 min read
Mugniheh was assassinated in Damascus in February 2008 [AFP]
An Israeli agent who infiltrated Hizballah stopped a plot to kill a former Israeli prime minister, according to sources close to the Lebanese group.
The accused spy, Mohammad Shorba, passed information to the Israelis which prevented the killing of Ehud Olmert in retaliation for the assassination of top Hizballah commander Imad Mughniyeh in February 2008.
In January, Hizballah's intelligence service said Shorba had been arrested in 2014.
Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hizballah, said Shorba had been a "division head" of one of the party's sensitive security units.
The sources did not say when the plot to kill Olmert was meant to take place. The information also linked Shorba to a number of Hizballah cells in Latin America and Europe.
Shorba also stopped a high-profile plot to attack the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan in 2009, the sources added.
In a television interview Nasrallah said Hizballah arrested Shorba after discovering he had been turned by Israeli intelligence services, and he confessed soon after. However, Nasrallah did not say when Shorba began collaborating with Israel.
According to a study prepared by Israel's National Security Research Centre, Shorba also played a crucial role in stopping Hizballah carrying out attacks in Turkey, Cyprus, Thailand, and Peru in revenge for Mughniyeh's death.
This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.
The accused spy, Mohammad Shorba, passed information to the Israelis which prevented the killing of Ehud Olmert in retaliation for the assassination of top Hizballah commander Imad Mughniyeh in February 2008.
In January, Hizballah's intelligence service said Shorba had been arrested in 2014.
Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hizballah, said Shorba had been a "division head" of one of the party's sensitive security units.
The sources did not say when the plot to kill Olmert was meant to take place. The information also linked Shorba to a number of Hizballah cells in Latin America and Europe.
Shorba also stopped a high-profile plot to attack the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan in 2009, the sources added.
In a television interview Nasrallah said Hizballah arrested Shorba after discovering he had been turned by Israeli intelligence services, and he confessed soon after. However, Nasrallah did not say when Shorba began collaborating with Israel.
According to a study prepared by Israel's National Security Research Centre, Shorba also played a crucial role in stopping Hizballah carrying out attacks in Turkey, Cyprus, Thailand, and Peru in revenge for Mughniyeh's death.
This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.
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