Lebanese security forces last week arrested another senior official from the state's telecommunications network suspected of spying on behalf of Israel, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported on Sunday,
Milad Eid, 66, is the fourth telecommunications official arrested this year in an alleged ring linked to Israel's intelligence service. Eid is a senior technician at Ogero, the state-owned company that runs the country's land-line telephone. He retired last year and was then brought back to serve in the administrative position.
The other three were employees of the Alfa mobile telecommunications network. One of those suspects, Ras al-Jud, reportedly managed to flee from Lebanon to Israel last month by crossing the border near Bint Jbeil
More than 50 Lebanese citizens have been arrested since April last year in a broad espionage investigation.
Lebanon has described the arrests as a major blow to Israel's intelligence gathering in the country and said many suspects helped identify targets in Lebanon that Israel bombed during its 2006 war with the militant group Hezbollah.
President Michel Suleiman, who under Lebanese law must sign a death sentence before it is carried out, has called for severe punishment for spies. The cabinet also agreed that death sentences handed down to spies for Israel should be carried out.