BEIRUT: A Lebanese court on Tuesday charged a high-ranking officer with “fabricating” evidence that a prominent actor and writer had been illegally conspiring with Israel, a judicial source told AFP.
Lebanon, which technically remains at war with its southern neighbor, upholds a boycott of Israeli products and of contact with its nationals.
Lt. Col. Suzanne Hajj “was charged with fabricating the case of collaboration with Israel brought against actor Ziad Itani, as well as hacking websites and inventing non-existent crimes,” the judicial source said.
Hajj, who headed a unit in Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces tasked with fighting cybercrime, was detained for questioning in March over suspicions she had enlisted the help of a hacker to fabricate conversations between Itani and an Israeli woman.
She remained in detention until Tuesday, and was released on the condition that she would continue to appear at the military tribunal for hearings, the source said.
The charges against her are yet another chapter in the strange case.
Lebanese were shocked when news broke in November that Itani had allegedly confessed to having been “tasked to monitor a group of high-level political figures” and their associates on behalf of Israel.
People close to the actor said his “confession” was extracted under duress, though the authorities have denied the accusation.
Lebanese authorities released him in March and simultaneously issued an arrest warrant for Hajj, who they suspected of having framed him.
At the time, a source close to the investigation said Hajj had sought revenge against Itani after he shed light on her liking a controversial post on Twitter last year, after which she was demoted.
Itani has shot to prominence in recent years because of a series of comedy plays on Beirut, its customs and the transformations it has undergone in recent decades.
The works — particularly “Beirut Tariq Al-Jdideh,” which refers to a majority-Sunni neighborhood of the city — have been very well-received.
Before becoming an actor, Itani worked as a journalist with Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen television channel and with various regional newspapers.
Lebanon charges officer for framing actor as Israel agent
Lebanon charges officer for framing actor as Israel agent
- Lebanese were shocked when news broke in November that Itani had allegedly confessed to having been “tasked to monitor a group of high-level political figures” and their associates on behalf of Israel.
- Itani has shot to prominence in recent years because of a series of comedy plays on Beirut, its customs and the transformations it has undergone in recent decades.
US military operations ‘ahead of schedule,’ Iranian leaders want to talk: Trump
- Trump also said Sunday that 48 Iranian leaders have been killed in the US-Israeli bombardments
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a leadership council had temporarily assumed duties
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iran’s new leadership wants to talk to him and that he has agreed, according to an interview with the Atlantic magazine.
“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long,” Trump said in the interview from his Florida residence. Trump did not specify who he would be speaking with or say whether it would occur on Sunday or Monday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a leadership council composed of himself, the judiciary head and a member of the powerful Guardians Council had temporarily assumed the duties of supreme leader following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump said some of the people who were involved in recent talks with the US are no longer alive.
“Most of those people are gone. Some of the people we were dealing with are gone, because that was a big — that was a big hit,” he was quoted as saying in the interview with Atlantic staff writer Michael Scherer. “They should have done it sooner, Michael. They could have made a deal. They should’ve done it sooner. They played too cute.”
Offensive moving ‘ahead of schedule’
Trump also said Sunday that 48 Iranian leaders have been killed in the US-Israeli bombardments of the country and that the offensive is “very positive.”
“Nobody can believe the success we’re having, 48 leaders are gone in one shot. And it’s moving along rapidly,” Trump was quoted as saying in an interview by Fox News.
Trump claimed overall success in the war, which was launched Saturday with the goal of removing Iran’s leadership and destroying its military. Iran has confirmed the death of its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
“We’re doing our job not just for us but for the world. And everything is ahead of schedule,” Trump was quoted as saying in a separate interview with CNBC.
“Things are evolving in a very positive way right now, a very positive way,” he said.
The interviews were conducted before the US military for the first time announced casualties in the war: three unidentified service members killed, five seriously wounded and several others more lightly injured.
Trump announced Sunday that the US military was sinking Iran’s Navy, having destroyed nine Iranian warships so far and “going after the rest.”
Trump made the announcement in a social media post as the Pentagon intensified its bombings of Iran’s military, deploying B-2 stealth bombers from the US to strike at hardened, underground Iranian missile facilities with 2,000-lb bombs.
US strikes also pummeled Iran’s naval headquarters, largely destroying it, Trump said.
