Media reports: Egypt arrests foreign ‘spies’

Egyptian security forces have identified three foreign intelligence networks connected with Israel, according to a Kuwaiti news outlet.

Seventeen alleged spies have been arrested, according to the privately owned Alrai newspaper's website, quoting unnamed Egyptian security sources. 

The sources reportedly said some of the detainees are diplomats posted to Egypt, but did not specify which countries they are from. The spy networks, which were operating in Cairo and other Egyptian cities, according to the undated report, were in direct contact with Israeli intelligence. More details are expected to be announced soon, according to the article.

The sources reportedly told Alrai that Egypt is in talks with the governments of those arrested and is investigating whether they had prior knowledge of the alleged intelligence activities of their nationals. Some of the suspects “move in Egypt under the protection of their embassies and under diplomatic cover, according to documents issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry which considers them diplomats,” the sources were quoted as saying.

The suspects collected information about the country’s economy, political movements, security and military, particularly in Sinai, according to the report. Some of the detainees possessed a number of images of military installations and vehicles, tools used in espionage, as well as private communications connecting them with other global intelligence networks, the report said.