Report: Uganda Arrests Suspected Hezbollah Agent Involved in Terrorist Plot with Mossad’s Help
A Lebanese citizen suspected of being a Hezbollah agent was arrested at Entebbe International Airport by local security services working off information provided by the Israeli intelligence agency
Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency facilitated the arrest of a suspected Hezbollah terrorist operating in Uganda, The Kampala Post reported Monday.
Hussein Mahmoud Yassine, a Lebanese national, was reportedly arrested on July 7 at Entebbe International Airport while about to board a flight to Lebanon via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He had arrived at the airport from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania just hours earlier.
Yassine, who has lived and worked in Uganda since 2010, was reportedly tracked for months before his arrest.
The report said that the arrest was made after the Ugandan intelligence consulted with Mossad officials, who provided them with information on the suspected terrorist’s activities.
The Kampala Post attributed the successful collaboration to the close political and intelligence relations between Uganda and Israel. According to the report, the collaboration helped Ugandan security services nip in the bud a terrorist plot of international proportions.
An anonymous intelligence source told the Kampala Post that Yassine was recruited into the organization’s foreign liaison unit by a senior Hezbollah official called Ali Wahib Hussein, also known as Abu Jihad.
According to the intelligence source, Hezbollah instructed Yassine to identify potential US and Israeli targets in Uganda and the region, to recruit other Lebanese nationals for Hezbollah operations, and to attempt to recruit Muslim Ugandans to act as Hezbollah intelligence agents.
The source also revealed that Yassine had already identified at least 100 Lebanese citizens living in the country for potential recruitment, including some working with telecommunications provider Africell.
Washington and Jerusalem were notified of Yassine's arrest and demanded his immediate prosecution, the source said.
[Sources: The Jerusalem Post, Israel Hayom]