[size=14pt]Nigeria Hezbollah suspects allege harsh Mossad grilling[/size]

Published August 05, 2013 / AFP

ABUJA (AFP) –  Two Lebanese suspects alleged to be members of Hezbollah and on trial in Nigeria on terrorism charges told a court Monday they were harshly interrogated by Israeli agents after their arrests.

Mustapha Fawaz, Abdallah Thahini and Talal Ahmad Roda were arrested in May after the discovery of an arms cache in a residence in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.

They have been accused of plotting attacks against Western and Israeli targets in Nigeria and have denied the charges.

An Israeli embassy spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Fawaz testified on Monday that, after his arrest in Abuja, a security official told him "some European friends" wanted to ask him questions.

"I was taken to an interrogation room where I met three Israeli Mossad agents," Fawaz told the court in response to questions by his lawyer.

Fawaz said one of the interrogators identified himself as a Mossad agent. He said they were "crude and nasty."

"They handcuffed my hands behind my back for days. I lost count because they did not allow me to sleep for several days," Fawaz said, denying membership in Hezbollah.

"They asked if I have any weapon in Abuja ... They asked if I have been asked to do any operation in Nigeria or anywhere else in the world," Fawaz said.

He said further: "During the 14 days of interrogation, I was interrogated by six Israeli Mossad agents and one masked white man.

"I was interrogated in Arabic. I asked to be interrogated in English, but they refused. Most of them are weak in English. They are not Europeans, but Israelis."

Fawaz said no Nigerian official was present during the sessions.

"They asked me about my link with Hezbollah, but they concentrated more on Lebanon -- whether I knew if there are weapons stored in the south of Lebanon or the identities of people who have been trained by Hezbollah," said Fawaz.

Thahini, who told the court he was no longer a member of Hezbollah, gave a similar account during his testimony.

He claimed to have collapsed after being denied sleep for five days by the foreign interrogators.

Thahini said it was easy for him to identify them as Israelis by their accents "because we are neighbours."

Both Fawaz and Thahini denied any knowledge of the arms cache discovered in Kano.

Justice Adeniyi Adetokunbo Ademola adjourned the case to September 30 after both the prosecutors and the defence closed their cases.

The three suspects are believed to own a supermarket and an amusement park in Abuja, but the businesses have been shuttered since the arrests.

A fourth suspect is said to be on the run.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is home to a sizeable Lebanese population, including in the mainly Muslim north.

Israel has raised concerns over alleged efforts by Hezbollah members to plan attacks in west Africa.

Fawaz said one of the interrogators
identified himself as a Mossad agent. He
said they were "crude and nasty."
"They handcuffed my hands behind my
back for days. I lost count because they did
not allow me to sleep for several days,"
Fawaz said, denying membership in
Hezbollah.

homesteady:
After all, its not only Nigeria police that are crude and nasty!

Hezron Lorraine: For DSS to allow invite Mossad agents to grill these lebanese.it means their story tells and they have a case to answer.so far,SSS isn't dropping this case soon.

Maxymilliano:
Mustapha Fawaz, co+owner of Amigo and Wonderland allegedly confessed to receiving a mandate from top Hezbollah agent to survey the Israeli Embassy in Nigeria and get aerial picture of Abuja.

Besides, the accused person disclosed that in both of his business outfits, Amigo and Wonderland, he had special surveillance cameras with which he monitored the movement of expatriates, especially those of Israeli extraction.

Similarly, the third accused person, Tahal Roda, who was arrested inside the house where a large cache of arms and ammunition were discovered in an underground bunker admitted that he was not only aware of the existence of the arms, but also frequently serviced them.

This are enough reasons to invite the Isreali Mossad to be part of the interrogation

Mustay:
..........Abdicating our intelligence to foreigners without supervision speaks volumes.

Mustay:

"European friends" Israel is in SW Asia/ME abeg.

If true, Nigeria needs to be careful with the internationalization of this issue. Abdicating our intelligence to foreigners without supervision speaks volumes.

homesteady:
After all, its not only Nigeria police that are crude and nasty!

eagle,eye:

They should be greatful that it was not the interrogation team of SSS like those we use to hear about during Abacha regime.
They would have confessed all their crimes, both the ones they did and the ones they intend doing. Rubbish.

ocelot2006:

Nah, the DSS team under Ababcha was nice oh. Now the folks from Directorate of Military Intelligence? Mehn, those were the real sadistic monsters.

raystanley: these things are part of their regular properties... In their land... So I see nothing much abou it... Free them

S@NNiE:
this whole drama reeks of Mossad involvement right from the beginning. the DSS needs to know that in the clandestine world of espionage "ANYTHING CAN BE STAGED". Mossad pointed the DSS in the direction of the house in kano, well nations help each other in intelligence gathering, but every secret service knows that apart from snooping around, suspect interrogation reveal loads of information, the suspects speak fluent English yet this interrogation was done in a foreign language with the DSS playing audience in their own playground.
there's more to this than meets the eye, DSS needs to assume the driver's seat pronto