Authorities Release 'Mentally Ill' Syrian Agent Linked to al-Rahi Plot
Lebanese authorities have released a man who had claimed that the Syrian intelligence recruited him to take photographs of a town as part of a “security plot” during a visit made by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.
The daily said security forces arrested Jikar. S. while he was taking pictures of the Mount Lebanon town of Hamlaya, a day before al-Rahi's visit on May 17.
The 24-year-old suspect admitted that he was recruited by the Syrian intelligence 18 months ago in return for a LL500,000 monthly pay and that he was sending the photos to his father who resides in the eastern Bekaa Valley, it said.
He also allegedly claimed that he was coordinating with his brother who lives in southern Lebanon and works for the same agency.
Jiskar said that the Syrian intelligence wanted the photos because it was “plotting for a security act” during the patriarch's trip to Hamlaya.
Al-Akhbar said that military prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr referred the suspect to the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch, which concluded after questioning him that Jikar was mentally unstable.
It quoted an ISF official as saying that the Intelligence Branch released the suspect for being “mentally ill and for making up a baseless story.”
G.K.
S.D.B.
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