CAIRO: An Egyptian who holds Canadian citizenship was arrested on charges of spying for Israel, the authorities have said. Three Israelis were also charged with spying for Israel, a state prosecutor said on Saturday. High State Security Prosecutor Hisham Badawi said the Egyptian, Mohamed Essam Ghoneim El-Attar, 31, had been arrested and charged. The rest of the suspected spy ring, who are in Turkey and Canada, were charged in absentia. Badawi said the Israelis had recruited Attar while he was living in Turkey in August 2001. Intelligence agents assisted him in obtaining a residency permit in Canada under a fake name and found him work in a bank. Attar was paid to spy on Egyptians and Arabs during his time in Turkey and Canada, and used his position in the bank to obtain information on specific accounts, Badawi added. He was also expected to scout and approach potential recruits, according to Badawi, who said Attar was paid $56,000 between August 2001 and Jan. 1 2007, when he was arrested at Cairo airport as he entered Egypt for a family visit. Badawi said Attar had been under investigation since January 2002 and would stand trial before a High State Security Emergency Court. We only know what we have heard in the media. I am not aware of anything other than what has been reported, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said in Jerusalem. In 1996, Egypt detained Azzam Azzam, an Israeli Arab textile worker, and sentenced him to 15 years in jail for spying for Israel. Egypt said Azzam passed messages in women s underwear using invisible ink. Both Azzam and Israel denied the charges. He was released after serving eight years, as part of a deal which included the release of six Egyptian students in Israel.
