Army: Egyptian Held for Selling SIM Card to Child Abductors

The army has arrested an Egyptian man on charges of selling mobile phone lines without requesting legal identification documents from the buyers, including from one of the abductors of the child Mohammed Nibal Awada who was abducted last week.

“As part of the efforts exerted by the intelligence directorate to combat the wave of kidnappings, and after expanding the investigations into the abduction of the child Mohammed Nibal Awada, a patrol from the directorate arrested Egyptian national Mohammed Sayyed Zaki Sayyed al-Fidawi on Feb. 27,” an army statement said.

Fidawi, “who owns a mobile phone shop in Shiyyah, was arrested for selling one of the abductors a mobile phone line without keeping a legal document that verifies the identity of the buyer,” the statement explained.

The man kept copies of personal identification documents in his possession in order to use them when selling SIM cards to customers seeking to keep their identity under wraps, the statement said, adding that Fidawi sold such mobile phone lines for prices higher than the market price.

The Army Command warned the owners of mobile phone shops of the consequences of violating the law by failing to keep identification documents of customers who buy SIM cards, noting that such a violation would subject perpetrators to legal prosecution “due to threat it poses to security and stability.”

Twelve-year-old Awada was released on Monday after being kidnapped last week in Beirut’s Ramlet al-Baida area.

On Wednesday, media reports said Fidawi was arrested in Shiyyah on charges of “spying for Israel.”

"The man owns Gina Cell mobile phone store in Shiyyah,” al-Jadeed television said.

LBCI television said the army confiscated all devices found in the store.