Thirteen Arabs, some of them local Communist leaders in Arab villages, have been arrested and have been charged by police with having formed “a most dangerous espionage ring” which was gathering military information for the Syrian government’s intelligence service, it was announced here today.
Among those arrested are former teachers in Arab schools, one teacher who was still conducting classes when he was caught, the secretary of the Communist cell in the Arab village of Yamrah, near the all-Arab city of Nazareth, and several other Communist cell leaders. A number of the arrested men speak Hebrew fluently, some being graduates of Hebrew high schools and several being students at the Hebrew University here.
The arrested men, according to police, had information regarding Israeli defense force, military installations, air force bases and camps, troop movements, the location of antiaircraft guns, and other vital information. They will be tried under Section Nine of the State Security Law–the only clause in Israeli law that permits the death penalty for those convicted.
On July 14, an Israeli security officer driving a car in northern Galilee offered a ride to Mahmud Fadel Hassan, a Communist member of the group. The officer drove Hassan to the nearest police station, where the man was found to possess military data. Three agents from Syria were, at the time, waiting at Arraba to receive the information. The courier allegedly confessed, and a police net was spread for the round-up and arrest of the other members of the ring.
Police said the group has been under investigation since April. It was allegedly organized by Hassin Ali Yassin Gharbuni, 23, a teacher at a school at Arraba. On May 2, the police charge, Yassin sent two emissaries to Damascus, where they conferred with Burhan Boulos, a high official in the Syrian intelligence service, who ordered the group to concentrate on military espionage. The two came back and reported to their young leader, who had formed a “cultural and sports club” which the police suspected as far back as last April of being a cover for a spy ring. Headquarters of the “club” was the local Communist headquarters at Arraba.
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