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Golan Druze indicted by Israeli court for Syrian espionage

Xinhua, March 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

An Druze from Israeli-held Golan Heights was indicted by an Israeli district court for spying for the Syrian government, Israel's Security Service, the Shin Bet, said in a statement on Friday.

Sedki al-Maket, resident of the town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights "documented activity by the Israel Defense Force along the northern border and passed the information to the Syrian government and intelligence agencies," the statement said.

"The information was transferred both over the Internet and through direct contact with individuals in Syria," the statement said, adding that al-Maket admitted the charges during his interrogation.

It added that "several other individuals" were also arrested for assisting al-Maket.

Al-Maket, who was secretly arrested by the Shin Bet in February, was released from an Israeli prison in August 2012 after serving 27 years in prison for "hostile terrorist activity."

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and later annexed the territory, in a move which has not been recognized by the international community.

The Druze are original inhabitants of the Golan. After the occupation, some of them assumed their new Israeli nationality and became Israeli citizens, while others maintained their loyalty to Syria and refused Israeli citizenship. Endit