BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon has asked Interpol to circulate an arrest warrant against a Lebanese ex-general suspecting of working for the Israeli spy agency Mossad, a judicial source said on Thursday.

“Prosecutor General Said Mirza sent an arrest warrant in absentia against Ghassan al-Jidd, who is suspected of having collaborated with Israeli intelligence, to the Interpol office in Beirut to be circulated abroad,” the source told AFP.

Jidd’s name first surfaced last month when Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah revealed a list of “spies” working for the Shiite party’s arch-enemy Israel at a media conference.

Local press reports say Jidd, a retired Lebanese army general, may have fled to Israel or France.

More than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of espionage since April 2009, including telecom employees, members of the security forces and active duty troops.

Many of the suspects are accused of having helped Israel identify targets during its devastating 2006 war with Shiite militant Hezbollah.

Five of those tried so far have been sentenced to death for spying for Mossad.

Lebanon and Israel remain technically in a state of war, and convicted spies face life in prison with hard labour or the death penalty if found guilty of contributing to Lebanese loss of life.