Accused Israel collaborator claims he was framed by Hezbollah

BEIRUT: Sheikh Hasan Mshaimesh, who was charged last October with collaborating with Israel, accused Hezbollah during a trial session Thursday of being present when he had been interrogated by the Internal Security Forces and said he was being framed because of his dispute with the party.

The Military Tribunal, headed by Brig. Gen. Khalil Ibrahim, was questioning Mshaimesh on charges of collaboration by contacting Israeli agents and providing them with information on Hezbollah in return for money.

During the session, Mshaimesh argued that he had been arrested and framed because of a political and ideological dispute with Hezbollah, ?which fights against anyone who goes against its political or religious views and its ideology linked to Wilayat al-Fakih [clerical rule].?

Mshaimesh stressed that Hezbollah opposes even high-ranking Shiite scholars and clerics who disagree with it.

?The attack against the home of the late Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah was at the hand of Hezbollah?s military commander Mustafa Badreddine,? he said.

Mshaimesh said he had been ?tortured in a way that no one could endure? by Syrian intelligence when he was arrested in Damascus, at the Lebanese Defense Ministry and the Internal Security Forces? Information branch.

He added that two Hezbollah officials had been present while he was being investigated by the ISF. When warned by Ibrahim that he was offending a security institution, he replied ?in Lebanon, anything can happen.?

Separately, the Military Tribunal also continued its questioning of Col. Antoine Abu Jawdeh, who was also charged last year of collaborating with Israel. During the session, Abu Jawdeh claimed he had been threatened by a Mossad agent he met abroad and had only supplied publicly available information. The defendant also claimed he suffered from an anxiety disorder.

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