Saudi Arabia frees vulture suspected of spying for Israel

Dubai: A vulture that was caught in Saudi Arabia last week and accused of spying for Israel's Mossad is to be released, according to online reports.

The vulture, captured by a local hunter last week, was found to be tagged with a GPS tracker by Tel Aviv University and that lead to accusations by the media that this bird is equipped with Israeli spy systems.

The head of the Gulf kingdom’s wildlife agency, Prince Bandar Bin Saud Al Saud scoffed at the claims.

"These systems are fitted to birds and animals, including marine animals. Most countries use these systems, including Saudi Arabia," Saud told Saudi media on Sunday.

"We have taken delivery of this bird, but we will set it free again after we [have] verified its systems."

Prince Bandar slammed local newspaper for what he described their incorrect reports about that bird and he was quoted as saying, "Some Saudi journalists rushed in to carry the news about this bird for the sake of getting a scoop, without checking the information. They should have asked competent authorities about the bird before publishing such news."

The bird was identified to be a Griffon vulture tagged R65. After the bird had been captured, Israeli officials were quick to insist that it was part of a program studying migratory patterns.

"The device does nothing more than receive and store basic data about the bird's whereabouts, and about his altitude and speed," an official at Israel's Park and Nature Authority told the Maariv newspaper.