Egyptian authorities have arrested a man they allege was using Canada as a base to spy on members of the Arab community for Israel.
Mohamed Essam Ghoneim el-Attar, 31, was detained in Cairo on Jan. 1 but charges against him and three alleged Israeli accomplices were not made public until last weekend.
The Globe and Mail, citing Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat, reports that el-Attar was recruited in Turkey and asked by his Israeli contacts to move to Canada. The report says he was given a job at a Toronto bank located near a mosque.
During his stay in both Canada and Turkey, el-Attar spied on local Egyptian and Arab communities, alleged High State Security Prosecutor Hisham Badawi in Cairo.
He said el-Attar used his position at the bank to monitor the accounts of Arab clients in Toronto while trying to find recruits to work for Mossad -- Israel's secret service.
El-Attar, an Egyptian native, also holds a Canadian citizenship, said Badawi.
Since his 2001 recruitment, el-Attar was paid US$56,300 by the Mossad, said Badawi.
Bernard Nguyen, a spokesperson at Foreign Affairs in Ottawa, said his department was aware of the situation.
"We are aware of reports of the arrest," he told The Canadian Press. "We have been in contact with our embassy in Cairo and we are investigating."
Nguyen would not confirm el-Attar's citizenship nor other details of his background.
Egypt's state news agency identified el-Attar's accomplices, who were charged in absentia in Cairo, as Daniel Levi, Kemal Kosba and Tuncay Bubay. Kosba and Bubay are said to hold dual Israeli-Turkish citizenship.
CSIS spokesperson Barbara Campion would not confirm if the agency is looking into the allegations.
"We never comment on operational matters (and) we never confirm whether we're interested in particular people," Campion told CP.
She did however say that CSIS closely monitors "foreign interference."
El-Attar's relatives in Egypt said that he was an estranged man who did not keep in touch with them, The Globe reported.
"I do not consider him my son anymore," said his father, Essam.
Egypt's intelligence service, known as the Mukhabarrat, has been investigating el-Attar since Jan. 2002, confirmed Egyptian officials.
With files from The Canadian Press
