BEIRUT, Mar 17, 2011 (AFP) - The army said it found Israeli spy gear disguised as a rock in south Lebanon after a tip-off from the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and put the equipment out of action on Thursday.
"A specialised army unit on March 17 dismantled espionage apparatus installed by the Israeli enemy and disguised as a rock in the Shamaa area," six kilometres (four miles) from the border with Israel, an army statement said.
It said military intelligence had received information "from the heart of the resistance," Hezbollah, leading to the discovery.
The "high-tech espionage device" had systems enabling it to both receive and broadcast images, and covered an area of the coast from the port of Tyre to Al-Biyada, 10 kilometres to the south, the army said.
It was operated by reconnaissance aircraft to which it broadcast images, the military said. Israeli aircraft regularly enter Lebanese airspace in violations denounced by both Beirut and the United Nations.
More than 100 people in Lebanon have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel since April 2009, including army personnel and telecoms employees. Lebanon has protested to the United Nations over the alleged spy networks.
Five people have so far been condemned to death for espionage but none of the sentences has been carried out.
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Copyright AFP 2011.
