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Erekat aide arrested over allegations of spying

January 18, 2016 at 11:48 am

Senior aide to the Chief Palestinian Authority (PA) Negotiator Saeb Erekat has been arrested over allegations of spying for Israel for 20 years, Israeli media reported yesterday.

Leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoting a “senior” PA official saying that the spy was observed for a couple of months and the PA got “sufficient strong proof against him” before he was arrested and investigated.

Haaretz noted that the Palestinian source “denied that the spy is a senior aide, but he was in charge of collecting information about field incidents.”

Meanwhile, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that the spy “used to gradually report the content of all secret meetings of the PA negotiation team.”

It reported an anonymous source saying that the spy “had recognised the charges”, noting that the investigation has not been concluded and the harm that this spy could have caused was not identified yet.

Yedioth Ahronoth claimed that the spy had reported “secret and sensitive” materials for a long time before he was arrested.

Palestinian media reported Erekat denying the spy was a senior aide, saying he was in charge of some management work in the office.