Posted on 02/02/2004 1:25:43 PM PST by Shermy
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Iranian diplomat is in Nigerian police custody on suspicion of spying on the Israeli embassy and other sensitive compounds in the capital Abuja, Israeli security sources said Monday.
They said the Iranian was arrested on Jan. 23 when staff reported him "staking out" the embassy. Although he carried no credentials, police discovered he was a diplomat, they said.
"A digital camera was found in his possession, with surveillance pictures of the embassy and several other international and local official buildings in the capital," a senior Israeli security source said.
A Nigerian police spokesman said last Thursday an Iranian was being questioned after taking photographs of strategic buildings, but did not say the man was a diplomat.
Officials at the Iranian embassy said then that they were not aware of the arrest.
Monday, officials in Nigeria, where it was a public holiday, and in Iran could not immediately be reached for comment.
The independent Nigerian Guardian newspaper said the buildings the suspect had photographed included the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp towers, the British Council, the Defense Ministry and army headquarters. It did not mention the Israeli embassy.
Israeli diplomatic missions are heavily guarded for fear of terrorist attacks. Israel accused Iran of backing bombers who killed 29 people at its embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992. Iran, which does not recognize the Jewish state, denied involvement.
Groundhog Day is a public holiday in Nigeria?
I think the question is how much oil goes to the world market from Nigeria.
Iran/AQ target competitive oil producers, like what's happening in Iraq today. It's an oil pricing strategy. Targeting Brits, Jews just a cover story...though the attack at the Brit bank in Turkey probably a message for them not to fund and pull out of teh Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project.
That makes more sense.
It's also the birthdays of Fritz Kreisler and Jascha Heifetz.
Yeah, my kid didn't have school today in Massachusetts.
I knew the teachers had some kind of scam cooking.
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