ISRAEL: Lebanese police arrest an Israeli-German citizen on allegations of spying but a family friend and neighbour say he is innocent

Record ID: 397092

  • Title: ISRAEL: Lebanese police arrest an Israeli-German citizen on allegations of spying but a family friend and neighbour say he is innocent
  • Date: 23rd September 2007
  • Summary: (W3) KIRYAT SHMONA, NORTHERN ISRAEL (SEPTEMBER 23, 2007) (REUTERS) VIEW OF ISRAELI NEWSPAPER ARTICLE READING 'THE JOURNEY FROM NEHARIYA TO HIZBOLLAH LAND' VIEW OF 32-YEAR-OLD DANIEL SHARON NEAR SIGN READING 'BEIRUT'
  • Embargoed: 8th October 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA8HFK05S1LC7M97PASCMV554YW
  • Story Text: Lebanese police arrest an Israeli-German citizen on allegations of spying but a family friend and neighbour say he is innocent.
    Lebanese authorities arrested an Israeli citizen on Sunday (September 23) with dual Israeli-German citizenship on allegations of spying for the Jewish state, Israeli media reported.
    Daniel Sharon, 32, was arrested in Beirut by the Lebanese police after his passport photo was found at a murder scene and was handed to the Lebanese intelligence service for questioning, Israel's Ynet website said.
    Sharon's family and friends rejected the spy accusations, arguing Daniel Sharon had visited Lebanon for "tourism purposes".
    One of the neighbours of the Sharon family, Leah, was certain Sharon was not a spy but rather a young man looking for adventures.
    "He's not a spy, just a wild child," said Leah.
    Daniel's father, Moshe Sharon, who was seen leaving the family house in Shavei Zion in northern Israel, refused to comment on his son's condition. In a telephone interview he told Israel's Channel 10 he denied the accusations and said he feared for his son's safety.
    The Sharon family closed their window shutters as media flocked to their beach-side villa in Shavei Zion, in northern Israel.
    Daniel Sharon, who was born in Munich, moved to Israel at age two and converted to Islam in 1996.
    Israeli officials strongly rejected the accusations, saying that Sharon entered Lebanon several times in the past using his German passport and was operating in an 'irresponsible' manner and against Israeli recommendations to avoid visiting Arab states.
    Lebanon has no formal ties with Israel, and was involved in a 34-day war between the Jewish state and the Lebanese Shi'ite group of Hezbollah, sparked by the abduction of two Israeli soldiers in summer 2006.
    "I don't think that Daniel works with the Shabak (secret services) or anyone else in Israel," Attorney Mgham Hamoud, a friend of the Sharons, told Reuters Television.
    Israeli media quoted a German official at the embassy in Beirut as saying they plan to verify the authenticity of Sharon's passport before intervening in the investigation.
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