Syrian-American Accused of Spying on Dissidents

By EVAN PEREZ

U.S. authorities arrested and charged a Syrian-American man they allege was part of a campaign run by Damascus to monitor and intimidate dissidents in Syria and the U.S.


Reuters

Mohamad Anas Soueid, as depicted in a courtroom sketch. He faces charges including acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

Syrian intelligence had a network of recruits who spied on U.S. protests against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and provided information to Syrian intelligence to be used to intimidate the protesters' relatives in Syria, according to a grand jury indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va.

Charged in the case is Mohamad Anas Soueid, a 47-year-old U.S. citizen who was born in Syria. He traveled to Syria in June and met with President Bashar al-Assad and other government officials, U.S. prosecutors allege.

Syria called the allegations "sheer lies" and said Mr. Soueid isn't a Syrian agent.

The case steps up the confrontation between Washington and Damascus that began when Syrian forces brutally suppressed "Arab Spring"-inspired protests. President Barack Obama has called on Mr. Assad to step down, and the U.S. has tightened sanctions on Syria.

Mr. Soueid worked with the Syrian Embassy and intelligence officials in the U.S. to recruit others to make about 20 video and audio recordings of U.S. protests against the Syrian government, according to the indictment. He and others discussed harming protesters in the U.S. and Syria, prosecutors allege.

"This desperate effort to monitor protesters in the United States shows that the Assad regime is grasping for any means to silence those speaking out against their brutal crackdown," said Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security Council.

In a statement, the Syrian Embassy in Washington said it has "never recruited the services of any individual to inform on any sort of activities." Mr. Soueid never held a private meeting with Mr. Assad, it said.

Mr. Soueid was arrested Tuesday. He is charged with six counts, including acting as an unregistered foreign agent, and providing false statements when he bought a firearm and to federal agents who questioned him about his alleged Syrian activities. He made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa C. Buchanan Wednesday and said he intended to retain his own attorney but had yet to do so. No plea was entered, and Mr. Soueid remains in custody.

During an August interview with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Mr. Soueid denied collecting information on behalf of Syria, the indictment says. Following the interview, Mr. Soueid alerted his alleged co-conspirator and asked that he warn others in Syrian intelligence about the FBI interview.

U.S. investigators monitored Mr. Soueid since at least March and tracked emails between him and the Syrian Embassy discussing the protests, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors cited other messages that Mr. Souied sent to his alleged handlers describing low morale among his fellow spies because of the negative news from Syria, and asking for a message to cheer them up.

One email he sent in July to an unidentified alleged co-conspirator included a photograph of Mr. Soueid meeting with Mr. Assad, the Syrian president, prosecutors allege.

Among those allegedly threatened and killed were family members of Hala Abdul Aziz, a Syrian activist in Alexandria, Va., who in May filed a lawsuit against the Syrian government and officials, including its ambassador to the U.S. and Mr. Soueid.

Ms. Aziz alleged in her suit that Syrian government snipers killed her father and others at a funeral in April for protesters who earlier had been killed by government forces.

The Syrian embassy denied the allegations in the suit.

Martin McMahon, her attorney, said Wednesday that Ms. Aziz viewed the U.S. charges being "about true justice." She alleges that her daughter was kidnapped, her brother arrested and tortured and her home in Syria set on fire in retaliation for her actions against the Syrian government, Mr. McMahon says.

After her lawsuit, Ms. Aziz received a threatening phone call saying her family would be killed if she didn't drop the case, according to her attorney.

Write to Evan Perez at evan.perez@wsj.com

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