Egyptian 'spy' trawled brochures for info -- paper

CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) - An Egyptian charged with spying for Israel told investigators he had obtained facts about his country from brochures, a state-owned daily said on Saturday.

Egypt announced on Tuesday it had arrested Sherif Fawzi Mohamed al-Filali in September and sent him for trial by the higher state security court on charges of spying for Israel. It said it had charged an alleged Russian accomplice in his absence.

Hisham Bedawi, the chief state security prosecutor, told a news conference Filali had been assigned to photograph military sites, write reports on the development of Egyptian weapons and collect information on tourism, industrial and agricultural projects.

These included the Toshka project, a giant irrigation and land reclamation scheme in the south.

"How did you receive information you were assigned to collect?" the daily al-Ahram quoted investigators as asking Filali, 34.

"I called my cousin, Sami, who is the Agriculture Ministry undersecretary, and asked him for information on Toshka," it quoted Filali as saying. "He sent me a brochure that includes all information on the project and all giant agricultural projects."

Filali, an engineer, added that he had also been ordered to gather information on tourism in Egypt, the newspaper said. "I bought the (state's) investment guide and translated it into English."

The Russian, whom the media named as Grigory Jefins, was charged with recruiting Filali for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency. A trial date has yet to be set.

COMPUTERS USED TO STORE MILITARY DATA

Al-Ahram said investigators had found military specification data and pictures of military equipment stored on two computers seized at Filali's home.

The daily quoted an intelligence report as saying Filali had also been ordered to check whether Egypt had secretly exported weapons to Iraq and to convince some of his relatives to travel abroad so that they could be recruited to work for Mossad.

Filali, according to the daily, was paid $3,000 by Mossad agents and $1,000 by Jevins.

In 1996, the daily said, Filali went to Spain, where he met a Spanish Jew identified as Rosa Sanchez. She introduced Filali to Jevins, who described himself as an arms trader. Badawi was quoted on Tuesday as saying the company was Spanish.

Israel has denied involvement in the espionage case, saying it has no connection with the two men named.

In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state.

In 1997, Egypt jailed an Israeli businessman, Azzam Azzam, for 15 years after convicting him of spying for Israel. The Israeli government says he is innocent and should be released.

Last week Egypt recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv, accusing Israel of using excessive force to quell a nine-week-old Palestinian revolt in which at least 292 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed.

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