BEIRUT: The Cabinet discussed Wednesday reports that the Central Intelligence Agency had operatives working for the agency in Lebanon and Information Minister Walid Daouk denied that U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly had been summoned at the Foreign Ministry over this issue.

In fact, Connelly met with Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour before the Cabinet meeting amid reports that she had been summoned in connection with the alleged CIA spying network in Lebanon. Connelly did not speak to reporters after the meeting.

But a U.S. Embassy spokesperson told The Daily Star Connelly’s meeting with Mansour had been prescheduled, adding that the CIA issue was not addressed during the discussions.

The Associated Press, quoting current and former U.S. officials, reported Monday that the capture of several CIA informants in Lebanon earlier this year has damaged the CIA’s intelligence operations in Lebanon.

During the Cabinet session chaired by Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail, Hezbollah’s Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan said he raised the issue of reports quoting CIA sources about the presence of American spy cells at the U.S. Embassy in Awkar that allegedly spied on the Lebanese and on the Resistance.

“The American spying cannot be separated from the Israeli spying. Therefore, in whose interest is the American spying”? he asked reporters after briefly walking out of the session. He said the Cabinet discussed the issue and decided to summon the U.S. ambassador to ask her about this subject.

However, Daouk denied that Connelly had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry over the CIA issue. “What happened is that Prime Minister Mikati asked the foreign minister to get information from the U.S. ambassador about the authenticity of press reports which spoke about this subject. We all know that they are merely press reports whose source we don’t know. Therefore, the foreign minister will be asked to seek clarifications about this matter,” he said.

He added that Mikati asked Mansour to act in line with diplomatic norms to ascertain the authenticity of the reports.

The Cabinet also approved a LL1.5 billion loan for the Public Works Ministry to purchase snow plowing equipment, Daouk said.