طالب ازهري يتجسس لصالح اسرائيل

[AleXawy]

Officials say former restaurant worker admits keeping tabs on local Arabs for Israeli intelligence agency

Feb 06, 2007 11:22 AM
Isabel Teotonio
Staff Reporter


An Egyptian man has confessed to working for a Toronto spy ring that was gathering information on local Arabs for the Israeli secret service, Egyptian officials say.
Mohamed Essam Ghoneim el-Attar, a 31-year-old Egyptian native who reportedly has Canadian citizenship, was arrested Jan. 1 in Cairo. Human rights activists called for an independent review of the allegations, in light of Egypt's record on using torture to obtain confessions.
"Any time there is an indication that someone has so readily confessed to something while in detention in Egypt, there is a need for real caution," said Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada.
"The Canadian government, in a case like this, should be pushing to have access, and ideally private access, so they can make a reliable and independent assessment of whether there is any reason to believe that torture is involved here."
El-Attar implicated two other men in the alleged Mossad spy ring who are believed to be living in Toronto.
"He has given a full confession and is in jail right now," said Egypt's ambassador to Canada Mahmoud El-Saeed, adding el-Attar will face trial as soon as the investigation is complete.
Over the weekend, reports surfaced that Egypt's state prosecutor had charged el-Attar, 31, with spying for Israel and harming national interests. Charged in absentia were three Israelis: Daniel Levi, Kemal Kosba and Tuncay Bubay – the latter two also hold Turkish citizenship. Egypt has asked Interpol to arrest the three.
El-Attar's arrest sparked buzz and concern within Toronto's Arabic community, said Imam Aly Hindy of the Salaheddin Islamic Centre in Scarborough, which the accused frequented.
Some members of the mosque remember el-Attar working at an Arabic restaurant near Lawrence and Warden Aves., said Hindy. But none can recall his subsequent job at an undisclosed bank, where he reportedly monitored the accounts and financial transactions of Egyptians and Arab clients in Toronto and kept a lookout for potential recruits to Mossad.
"People are very surprised by this and worried about their bank accounts," said Hindy, adding a few people have told him that the bank abruptly closed accounts they used to wire money to relatives in Egypt. But whether that has anything to do with el-Attar is unknown.
"People have told me they saw him there a few times, but that the last time was about eight months ago," said Hindy, adding some recall the accused using the name Joseph.
"They say he was very quiet, he wouldn't speak to anyone and he was very shy."
According to Arabic news reports, el-Attar was arrested at the Cairo airport on Jan. 1 by Egyptian officials who had been monitoring his movements since 2001, when he fled Egypt for Turkey to avoid going to prison for three years over a $20,000 debt he owed a car rental company.
In Turkey, he reportedly approached Mossad, offering to work for the spy agency. There, el-Attar reportedly met Levi, who taught him how to gather intelligence.
The Mossad then sent el-Attar to Canada where he met Kosba, who found the newcomer work at the restaurant. A third agent, Bubay, reportedly got him at a job with an undisclosed bank. He was reportedly paid $56,3000 by Mossad.