Egypt Arrests Engineer Accused of Spying for Israel

In a move further straining ties with Israel, Egypt on Tuesday announced the arrest of a 34-year-old engineer it says spied for Israel after being recruited in the early 1990s by a Jewish German woman with whom he fell in love.

Officials at the prosecutor general’s office said Shereef Fawzi Mohammed Falali provided Israel’s foreign intelligence agency Mossad with information on Egypt’s arms industry and military as well as major tourism and agricultural projects.

He will be tried before a state security court on charges of supplying Israel with “political, economic and military information that harmed national interest,” officials said, citing an indictment sheet. No date for the trial has been set.

Israel denied any role. Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s office said in a statement that Israel had no “involvement in the alleged spying event” and “no connection with the people or particulars” cited by Egypt in the case.

Along with Falali, who officials said was arrested Sept. 27, a Russian citizen who allegedly recruited him in Europe was also charged but remains at large. He will be tried in absentia, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Falali’s case is certain to worsen relations between Israel and Egypt, whose ties have long been cool despite a 1979 peace treaty. Egypt last week recalled its ambassador to Israel in protest against what it sees as the Jewish state’s excessive use of force against Palestinians in clashes.

The case also is likely to fan anti-Israeli sentiment in the Middle East, which has been running high since the start of the Israeli-Palestinian clashes in September. More than 250 people, mostly Arabs, have so far been killed in the clashes.