Egyptian-Canadian accused of spying for Israel

BY CANWEST NEWS SERVICEFEBRUARY 4, 2007

OTTAWA - An Egyptian with Canadian citizenship used his position at a bank in Canada to spy for Israel, a Cairo prosecutor charged Saturday.

Charges against Mohamed Essam Ghoneim el-Attar, 31, were announced Saturday following his arrest at Cairo airport on Jan. 1.

He is accused of "harming Egypt's national interests" judicial sources said.

Three Israelis have also been charged with spying and are still at large.

Israelis recruited el-Attar while he was living in Turkey in August 2001, said High State Security Prosecutor Hisham Badawi in an interview with Reuters. Intelligence agents allegedly assisted him in obtaining a residency permit in Canada under a fake name and found him work in a bank.

Badawi said el-Attar was paid to spy on Egyptians and Arabs during his time in Turkey and Canada, and used his position in the bank to obtain information on specific accounts.

Bernard Nguyen, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the Canadian government was aware of the allegations against el-Attar, but would not confirm if he is indeed a Canadian citizen.

"We are in contact with our embassy in Cairo," Nguyen said. "We can't confirm what has been reported in the media but we are investigating." He declined to give any further information, citing privacy concerns.

El-Attar was also expected to scout and approach potential recruits and was paid $56,000 since he began his work in August 2001, Reuters reports said Saturday.

El-Attar had been under investigation since January 2002, according to Badawi, and would stand trial before a High State Security Emergency Court.

The state security court operates under the state of emergency in force in Egypt for the past quarter-century and its judgments cannot be appealed.

The three Israelis who also face charges have been identified by MENA, the Egypt state news agency, as Daniel Levi, Kemal Kosba and Tuncay Bubay. MENA said Kosba and Bubay also hold dual Turkish citizenship.

Israel confirmed that it was the subject of espionage allegations in Egypt.

"We confirm the reports from Cairo of a spy scandal in Egypt in which Israel is implicated," said foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev.

"For the time being, we do not have any details on this subject beyond those already reported by the media."

Ottawa Citizen, with files from Associated Press, AFPand Reuters

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