Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah first spoke of Ghassan
Al-Jid during a news conference last month in which he was presenting testimony
that he said linked Israel to the 2005 assassination of former prime minister
Rafik Hariri.
Nasrallah said Jid had been an "Israeli
collaborator" since the early 1990s and that he had been present at the
St. Georges yacht club, near the scene of Hariri's killing on the Beirut
seafront, a day before the attack took place on Feb. 14, 2005.
After Nasrallah's news conference, Lebanese authorities
initiated proceedings against Jid, a retired army colonel, and issued an arrest
warrant.
Nasrallah said Jid had also been involved in the
assassination of Hezbollah commander Ghalib Awali in 2004.
Dozens of Lebanese have been arrested since last year as
part of an espionage investigation in which many have been formally charged
with spying for Israel.
The high-profile detentions, including a high-ranking army
officer, a Christian party member and telecommunications employees, have
shocked Lebanon, showing how deeply Israel has managed to infiltrate and
compromise its security.
The charges brought against the telecom employees at
state-owned firms Alfa and Ogero have prompted Hezbollah to suggest Israel
could have used telecom agents to manipulate phone records to implicate the
group in Hariri's killing.
Hezbollah, which fought Israel in a 2006 war, has criticized
the UN tribunal investigating the assassination after reports emerged that
members of the militant Shiite guerrilla group may be indicted, raising
tensions in the country.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has called for severe
punishment for spies. Three Lebanese have been sentenced to death for spying
for Israel.
