A source in the Syrian foreign ministry told Ahram Online that Egyptian-Syrian security cooperation remains strong despite the uneasy nature of their political ties in the past few years.
The two countries continue to work together on many security files, including the recently revealed network of Israel spies, lead by the Egyptian suspect Tarek Abdel Razeq.
The source added that after the discovery of this "conspiracy", Egypt handed over to Damascus a dossier of sensitive technical information relating to Syria’s nuclear program, including the project’s maps and strategic positions and means of obtaining nuclear materials.
The file has been a rich source of details for the discovery of an Israel spy network in Syria. The most outstanding piece of information handed over by Egypt to the Syrians concerned an Israeli mole, a high ranking member of Damascus’ security apparatus, who had been collaborating with Israel for the past thirteen years.
The source says that the investigation remains open, looking into “other individuals” not yet identified. According to the source, existing information confirms there is a security breach extending to “security personnel in Syria.”
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, added that Israel continues to be “an enemy to Arabs” and this, in his words, is one of main conclusions to be drawn from the uncovering of the tripartite networks in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. In his opinion the peace deal between Israel and Egypt did not prevent from continuing intelligence war to damage inter Arab relations. He referred to the Egyptian prosecutor general’s statement on the spy issue, particularly his statement that Israel sought to harm relations between Arab countries.
The source ruled out that it was on the operations agenda of the espionage case to assassinate figures in Syria, such the Hezbollah leaders Emad Mughneyah (who was assassinated in February 2008) or Lieutenant Mohammed Souleyman, an advisor to the Syrian president (assassinated in August 2008). However, he admitted that Israel had been able to penetrate highly sensitive security positions in Syria.
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