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US scientist arrested for spying for Israel

WASHINGTON: A leading American scientist who has worked for the White House and NASA was expected to appear in court on Tuesday charged with attempting to spy for Israel.

Stewart David Nozette, 52, was arrested after a sting operation involving an undercover FBI agent posing as an Israeli agent, the Department of Justice said, adding that there was no wrongdoing by Israel. He is charged with “attempted espionage for knowingly and willfully attempting to communicate, deliver, and transmit classified information relating to the national defence of the United States to an individual that Nozette believed to be an Israeli intelligence officer.”

A prominent scientist credited with involvement in the discovery of water on the moon, Nozette had experience working for the US space agency NASA, the Energy Department and even served on the White House’s National Space Council in 1989 and 1990, under then-president George HW Bush. He was arrested in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland on Monday. “The conduct alleged in this complaint is serious and should serve as a warning to anyone who would consider compromising our nation’s secrets for profit,” said David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security.

Nozette developed an experiment that fueled the discovery of water on the south pole of the moon, and previously held special security clearance at the Department of Energy on atomic materials. “From 1989 through 2006, Nozette held security clearances as high as top secret and had regular, frequent access to classified information and documents related to the US national defence,” the Justice Department said.

The FBI’s case centres around an undercover agent who posed as an Israeli intelligence officer. “Nozette met with the UCE (undercover employee)... and discussed his willingness to work for Israeli intelligence,” informing the agent that “he had, in the past, held top security clearances and had access to US satellite information.” Nozette said he would answer questions about the information in exchange for money and offered “to reveal additional classified information that directly concerned nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, and other major weapons systems,” the Justice Department said.

Over the next several weeks, Nozette and the undercover agent exchanged envelopes of money containing thousands of dollars at a time for answers to lists of questions about US satellite technology. afp

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