Egypt court sentences Israeli officer over spying

An Egyptian court sentenced Wednesday an officer with the Israeli Intelligence (Mossad) to 25 years in prison over charges of spying, official MENA news agency reported.
The Supreme State Security Criminal Court also handed down a 10- year jail sentence to Jordanian communication engineer Bashar Abou- Zayed. The Israeli officer Ofer Haray has been sentenced in absentia.
The two defendants were charged of spying for Israel against Egypt's national security, said the presiding Judge Adli Fadali.
They were also accused of transferring Egyptian international calls to Israel, sending reports to the Jewish state about the locations, plans and detailed information concerning the Egyptian armed forces and police, the judge added.
The Jordanian engineer was arrested in April 2011 after a massive uprising that ousted the President Hosni Mubarak.
The investigations found that Haray had assigned and paid the Jordanian engineer to search for Egyptian employees working in communication fields, offering them Israeli equipment designed to pick up information from international calls. The suspect confessed during investigations that he received money for passing information to the Israeli intelligence.
Egypt is also trying five Egyptians, and seven fugitive Israelis over charges of espionage for Israel.
In April last year, Egypt said it foiled an Israeli spy network in the North Sinai city of Rafah.