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Barak Says Hezbollah Member Arrested In Israel
JERUSALEM, Feb 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A Lebanese Hezbollah member planning to stage an attack in Israel has been arrested inside the country, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday.
The right-wing daily The Jerusalem Post reported on its site that a British national was arrested one month ago by Israeli security forces on suspicion of being sent by an unknown "terror" group to carry out an attack in Israel.
The online edition of the newspaper identified the man as William Jared Shuman, also known as "Jihad" and said he was detained on January 5th after entering Israel from Lebanon, according to reports on Israel and Army Radio.
Israel's internal security services "Shin Beth arrested Jihad Shuman ... who holds a British passport and is suspected of having been sent from Lebanon by Hezbollah to stage an attack in Israel," Barak's office said in a statement.
"Shuman was and is still being interrogated on his recruitment in Lebanon and his mission in Israel," the statement said, adding that the suspect was arrested in early January after cooperation between Shin Beth and the Israeli police.
There was no immediate reaction from Hezobllah.
Shortly before the statement was published, Shuman's lawyer, Lea Tzemel, said that her 32-year-old client had been heard Sunday by the Jerusalem district court. She said Shuman was charged with "having been commissioned by a terrorist organization to stage attacks in Israel."
She said he pleaded not guilty and categorically denied he had entered Israel with the intention of carrying out "terrorist activities". Shuman's lawyer also said he complained of "having been tortured during his detention."
Hezbollah spearheaded the resistance war in southern Lebanon until Israel's May 24th troop pullout after 22 years of occupation. It has since led several attacks on Israeli positions in the Shebaa Farms, capturing three Israeli soldiers October 7th in the contested area.
The Shiite occupation resistance movement says its holding a fourth Israeli who was trying to spy on the group in Lebanon. The organization is seeking to swap the Israeli prisoners for 16 Lebanese, including Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid and Mustapha Dirani, who are detained in Israel.
Hezbollah also recently threatened it would capture more Israeli soldiers if Israel did not release members of the group and other Arab prisoners in Israeli jails. The group says it ultimately aims to pressure Israel to exchange four Israelis they captured last year for some 15,000 Arab prisoners.
Palestinian and Arab relatives, and friends of Arab prisoners, handed Hezbollah lists of more than 1,500 prisoners in Israel and demanded their inclusion in any swap deals with the Jewish state.
Non-Arabs as well are being held in Israeli prisons. In 1982, a Lebanese collaborator with Israel kidnapped three Iranian diplomats and an Iranian driver during the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon.
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