A Lebanese national suspected of being an undercover Hezbollah agent was arrested earlier this month in Uganda for allegedly scouting Israeli and American targets in Africa on orders from the Shiite terrorist group.
Hussein Mahmood Yassine was arrested on July 7 at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda by local intelligence officers working off information provided by the Mossad intelligence agency, the Kampala Post reported Tuesday.
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Based in Lebanon, Hezbollah is a heavily armed group sponsored by Iran. The Shiite organization has been designated as a terrorist group by several western countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, Argentina and Israel, as well as Arab League member Bahrain. Some countries, such as Australia, France and Germany, only classify Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist organization.
Yassin was reportedly arrested as he was about to board a flight to Lebanon via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, having arrived at Entebbe from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, just a few hours earlier.
Yassine, who had worked in Uganda since 2010, was reportedly tasked by Hezbollah with identifying Israeli and American targets for potential terror attacks in Africa.
His mission also included building a network of spies comprising Lebanese living in Uganda and Ugandan Muslims, particularly those who traveled to Saudi Arabia for the hajj – the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
The latter group was to become Hezbollah intelligence assets in Saudi Arabia, Iran's chief foe in the Arabian Peninsula.
The report noted that Mossad officers worked in conjunction with Uganda's defense establishment to arrest Yassine and dismantle the terrorist network he had put in place.
The Kampala Post attributed the successful collaboration to the close political and intelligence relations between Uganda and Israel, further quoting a source close to the investigation as saying this had helped Ugandan security services nip in the bud a terrorist plot of international proportions.
Washington and Jerusalem were notified of Yassine's arrest and demanded his immediate prosecution, the source said.
According to the report, Yassine was being held "incommunicado." On July 10, the Lebanese consulate in Uganda lodged an official protest with the Ugandan Foreign Ministry, claiming the arrest will deter Lebanese nationals from pursuing future business endeavors in the country.
