in brief

P.M.'s Office: Reports About Shalit Deal 'Misleading'

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Reports about a deal to secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier are misleading, the Prime Minister's Office said on Monday, following a flurry of reports that Gilad Shalit's release was imminent.

"Many details coming from abroad and in foreign media are being published lately, but they are not credible and some of them are even intentionally distorted," the Prime Minister's Office said Monday in a statement. "Efforts to secure Gilad Shalit's release are continuously underway, out of the media's view, and we have no intentions of commenting beyond that."

The New York Times reported on Monday that Hamas and Israeli officials said that the prisoner exchange would likely include the release of Marwan Barghouti, who is seen as a future leader of the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas has said it plans to hold the prisoner exchange on Friday, the day of a Muslim feast.

Fox News reported Sunday that Israel has approved a final list of 70 prisoners to be exchanged for Shalit. The list replaces 70 other prisoners that were rejected by the Jewish state.

Shalit's family met Monday in Tel Aviv with the prime minister's special negotiator.

Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Sunday, following a meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, that "real progress" has been made in the negotiations.

"Now is not the time to talk," Shalit's father, Noam, said prior to the meeting. Following the meeting he said, "I am still not reassured."

Lebanese Man Accused of Spying for Israel

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A Lebanese citizen accused of spying for Israel was arrested by the Lebanese security service.

The man, a teacher, was accused of transferring sensitive intelligence to Israeli agents, Lebanese media reported last week.

He had been under surveillance for several months, according to reports.

A Lebanese security source said that the man, 54, had admitted to spying for Israel, reported the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.

The arrest came a week after a military court handed down death sentences to four people, including a first sergeant in the Lebanese army, on charges of spying for Israel and conspiring to wage a war on Lebanon.

Two were sentenced in absentia since they reportedly fled to Israel.

In the past several months, about 20 people accused of spying for Israel have been arrested in Lebanon.