Israeli police indict Catholic council head on espionage charges

Published: 2006-01-11

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- A former local council head of a northern Melkite Catholic village was indicted on espionage charges by Israeli police and security services Jan. 9. Jirias Jirias, 57, was arrested in December on suspicion that he was recruited by Iranian intelligence agents to infiltrate the Israeli political system, perhaps entering the Israeli Parliament on the leftist Meretz list. Jirias, a Melkite Catholic, served as village council head of the small Galilean village of Fassuta from May 2001 to November 2003. According to news reports, Jirias joined the Meretz party at the end of 2004. A gag order on the arrest was lifted Jan. 6. In a telephone interview with Catholic News Service, Jirias' brother and lawyer, Sabri Jirias, said the charge was meeting a foreign agent. "Technically there is some truth to the charge, but Jirias (thought) he was just meeting with an old friend," the lawyer said. "There was no exchange of information."

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