Mohamed Bakr Radwan, an Egyptian citizen who was reported to have been arrested by the Syrian authorities for spying for Israel, is not a spy, a senior Syrian diplomatic source told Ahram Online.

The diplomatic source, who preferred anonymity, said the charges against Radwan are not for spying, and that the matter was blown out of proportion by the media.

Radwan, according to the source, is one of a number of non-Syrians, who were arrested for taking pictures and video footage of events in Syria, which are then posted on the internet in ways meant to “distort” what is taking place in the country.

An Egyptian security expert commented, in statements to Ahram Online, saying that the Syrian authorities are currently showing the same kind of “sensitivity” towards anyone using a camera that the Egyptian authorities had shown in the days of the revolution. The aim, he added, is to try and prevent as far as possible the publication of images showing what is taking place inside the country, which might undermine the regime's claims that reports of popular portests are fabrications.