Egyptian Israelophile arrested for "spying"

YNet reports:

Security forces in the city of Suhaj in southern Egypt arrested a 24-year-old man who was corresponding with an Israeli citizen on Facebook, al-Youm al-Sabaa reported on Sunday.

The man is suspected of adding "Israeli pages" to his account, such as pages about the Mossad and the IDF Spokesman.

The man also allegedly criticized Egypt and attempted to travel to Israel through Sudan.

The paper also reported that the man has a Star of David tattoo on his arm, and that a search of his home uncovered a Hebrew-Arabic dictionary.

According to the report, the man reached the Israeli embassy in Cairo in an attempt to get a visa to Israel, claiming he wants to visit Jerusalem, but was unsuccessful.

Egyptian media are of course covering the story. His name is Shenouda Ashraf Sobhy Zekry. Here is his tattoo (UPDATE: No, this photo is from a 2011 story. Egyptian media quality shines through. H/t Bob K)


According to the Egyptian reports, he met an Israeli girl named "Nicolas"(?) in Sharm el-Sheikh, slept with her, she paid him $150 and then he turned into a fan of Israel.

 He started a Yahoo account called ISRAEELLOVE579@YAHOO.com and tried to find Israelis to correspond with.

Zekry is charged with "collaborating with the state of Israel in order to damage the status of Egypt's military, political, diplomatic and economic situation, as well as acceptance of money from a foreign state for the purpose of committing an act detrimental to the national interest of the country, have also been a prosecutor charges correspondence with a foreign country in order to share secrets about the defense of the country." He is in jail for 15 days while they find more "crimes" to pin on him.

Sounds just like the Mossad, doesn't it?