FBI launches inquiry into Israeli mole

A top United States official may have supplied Israel with highly sensitive information that the State Department wanted kept secret, according to a report in yesterday's Washington Post, which said the FBI had launched an investigation to discover the official's identity.

The inquiry is said to have been opened in January after US security officials intercepted a telephone conversation between an Israeli official in Tel Aviv and a senior Israeli agent in the US. The conversation referred to a third man by what appeared to be his codename, "Mega". According to the intercept, the Israeli official wanted Mega to supply a copy of a top-secret letter, sent by the then US Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, to Yasser Arafat, setting out US guarantees to the Palestinian leader on the eve of the Israeli withdrawal from Hebron. The request appeared to reflect Israel's suspicion that the US was dealing on Hebron behind its back. Mary Dejevsky - Washington