Hezbollah on high alert after espionage scare

Dubai: Hezbollah, Lebanon and Israel remain tight-lipped on the details of an espionage plot uncovered last month which experts expect will lead to the resistance group reviewing its security arrangements.

The Lebanese army's announcement of the arrest of a citizen in southern Lebanon in mid-February on charges of spying for Israel has exposed Israel's espionage on the resistance group reaching top levels for the first time, military experts said.

"Secrecy is necessary," veteran Lebanese military analyst retired Brigadier-General Elias Hanna.

Responding to questions on blackout of details surrounding the arrest, Hanna added: "Leaking the information (of the arrest) was on purpose, as well as being discreet afterwards& in order to uncover the rest of the elements and culprits."

Marwan Faqih is now in army custody, an army statement revealed last month.

It was not possible to confirm any details surrounding the arrest from both Lebanese officials and Hezbollah. According to media reports, Faqih had been spying for almost four years.

The case of Faqih, a car dealer from Nabatiyah, is the latest to be uncovered in the past few years.

Hanna said the distinguishing element in his case was that he had direct contact with Hezbollah leadership.

"He is from the heart of the area (one of the group's stronghold). He is also a Shiite... (this time) the difference is the damage is done," Hanna said, in reference to information passed on to Israel.

"Now, Hezbollah considers the worst scenario has happened, and it will re-organise itself from ground zero," Hanna said.

The reported spying plot came amid repeated cross-border exchanges between Lebanon and Israel since the beginning of the year.

On Thursday, Lebanese security sources said four rockets near the border with Israel had been discovered.

Five days earlier, two rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. Israel responded with artillery fire.

No group has claimed responsibility for firing these rockets from southern Lebanon, where both Lebanese army and Unifil troops have been deployed.

Hezbollah, which fought a 33-day devastating war with Israel in summer 2006, has denied involvement in the rocket fire.

Military experts, meanwhile, ruled out the possibility that these incidents would lead to a new war with Israel.

Yet, they don't totally exclude the possibility of a new military conflict in the volatile region.

Qadri Saeed, head of the military unit at the Cairo-based Al Ahram Strategic Centre, said the odds weighed heavily in favour of conflict.

"To me, the possibility of a conflict is more than the possibility of no conflict," Saeed said.

"The whole region is in a state of instability and anxiety," he added.

However, analysts believe that several developments during the year might play a role in shaping the future.

These include the situation in the Palestinian territories, elections in both Iran and Lebanon, and the potential of dialogue between Iran and the United States.

Hanna, however, said that until the results of these developments were shaped, "the current regional and international reality doesn't say we are heading towards a new military conflict."