A former student of Cairo University, Mohammed Essam Ghoneim al-Attar was accused of collaborating with three Israeli agents, which "caused serious damage to the national interests of Egypt." The convicts' associates received the same sentence in absentia.
Investigators said al-Attar was recruited in 2001 by Israel's intelligence agency Mossad as a mole in Turkey where he had arrived on a tourist visa. Al-Attar was told to join the local community of Egyptians and other Arabs in order to gather information about them for Israeli special services. The man was also instructed to find other people who could cooperate with Israeli intelligence for money.
After awhile, al-Attar left for Canada where he obtained a residential permit and was provided with accommodation and a job in a Toronto bank in exchange for information about bank accounts and other personal data of local Arabs. He earned $56,000 for several years of cooperation with the Israeli intelligence.
Al-Attar, who was granted Canadian citizenship in 2006, was arrested in January upon his arrival in Cairo to meet with his family.
Al-Attar's case is one in a series of other Egyptian inquiries into cooperation with Israeli secret services. Last Tuesday, prosecutors pressed charges against a 35-year-old Egyptian engineer working at the state Atomic Energy Agency. Mohammed Sayed Saber Ali is accused of sharing information about Egypt's nuclear program with Israel.
