CAIRO: Egyptian intelligence had been monitoring the activities of alleged spy Mohammed Essam Ghoneim El-Attar while he lived in Canada, experts have said.
“He was discovered and tracked in Canada by Egyptian intelligence due to his irrational behavior with Egyptian expatriates there, Nabil Farouk, a researcher in intelligence and espionage affairs told The Daily Star Egypt.
He was on the wanted list and was arrested when he flew in to Egypt, as there was no jurisdiction to detain him in Canada, Farouk said.
The Egyptian High State Security Prosecutor Hisham Badawi stated that Attar was arrested upon entering Egypt and charged as an Israeli operative.
He is set to stand trial in a High State Security Emergency Court. According to Badawi, Attar had been under investigation since 2002.
Farouk said “He was collecting information. This is useful at a later stage to build networks and intelligence based upon the gathered information.
Former Police General Mustapha Kashef told The Daily Star Egypt that Attar was under observation for quite some time to gather as much information about Egyptians and Arabs abroad as possible. “The essence of espionage is information. In intelligence gathering you try and find answers for who, what, when, where and why, he said.
Kashef added that the Israeli recruiters studied Attar comprehensively before allegedly attempting to recruit him.
The Security Prosecutor claims that Attar was recruited by Israeli agents in Turkey in August 2001. Israeli agents assisted him in obtaining residency in Canada under a fake name.
Three others have been charged in absentia as part of the spy ring. According to Farouk, the other three are the Israeli officers who recruited Attar.
Farouk said “He [Attar] is a low level agent.
Badawi said that Attar was recruited to spy on Egyptians and Arabs in both Turkey and Canada. And through a job in a bank obtained through the Israeli agents, he was privy to confidential financial information.
Badawi added that Attar was expected to recruit others and was paid $56,000 between August 2001 and his arrival in Cairo for a family visit and subsequent arrest on Feb. 1, 2007.
Farouk said that Egyptian intelligence officers were aware of his impeding arrival on that date and planned the arrest then.
