Hezbollah identifies undercover CIA officers

ADAM GOLDMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The militant group Hezbollah has revealed the identities of CIA officers working undercover in Lebanon, a blow to agency operations in the region and the latest salvo in an escalating spy war.

Hezbollah made the names public in a broadcast Friday night on a Lebanese television station, al-Manar. Using animated videos, the station recreated meetings purported to have taken place between CIA officers and paid informants at Starbucks and Pizza Hut.

Former and current U.S. intelligence officials say the disclosure comes after Hezbollah managed to partially unravel the agency's spy network in Lebanon after running a double agent. In June, Hezbollah said it had caught at least two spies working for the CIA.

A CIA spokeswoman calls the latest Hezbollah claims "spurious" and says al-Manar is the group's "propaganda arm."

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