Mar 13, 2018

Lebanon on Tuesday released a prominent writer and actor from custody, a judicial source said, after months in detention over allegedly "collaborating" with Israel.

A military judge ordered Ziad Itani's release, the source said, after he was arrested in November and accused of "collaborating and communicating" with the neighbouring state.

The judge also issued an arrest warrant for a high-ranking female officer accused of framing him, the source said.

The former head of a security unit fighting cybercrime, Suzan al-Hajj, was detained for questioning earlier this month over suspicions she had enlisted the help of a hacker to fabricate conversations between the actor and an Israeli woman.

Lebanon, which technically remains at war with its southern neighbour, upholds a boycott of Israeli products and of contact with its nationals.