COPENHAGEN, Jan 26 (AFP) - The lawyer of a Dane being held in Israeli custody claimed on Wednesday that his client had been coerced into confessing to charges that he spied on behalf of Lebanon's Shiite militia Hezbollah.
"The confession is false. He came to Israel to see his family and for no other reason," defense lawyer Ila Telawi told Danish news agency Ritzau, adding the man had since retracted his confession.
Ayad al-Ashuah, a 38-year-old Danish mechanic of Lebanese origin, is due to appear before a court on Thursday for his custody to be extended.
He was arrested at a Tel Aviv rail station on January 6 after being caught filming military installations with a video camera during a train trip, according to Israeli police.
He allegedly confessed to having been recruited by the Shiite Muslim fundamentalist movement Hezbollah by his brother during a previous trip to Beirut.
Ashuah had agreed to gather intelligence on possible military targets and tried to enroll two Israeli Arabs for the militia as well, a police spokesman said.
One of the two Israeli Arabs was released on Tuesday while Ashuah, who emigrated to Denmark in 1986, remains in custody.
Defense lawyer Telawi however insists that his client had been coerced to confess to the charges.
"He was under pressure, he was frightened, and they promised among other things that he would be sent back to Denmark where he lives if he admitted to things he had not done," he told Ritzau.
The man's family has told the Danish daily Ekstra Bladet that he had taken a video camera to film the country to show his three children.
The Danish foreign ministry had been denied access to Ashuah until last Sunday, when Carsten Damsgaard, the Danish ambassador in Tel Aviv, was finally allowed to meet with him.
01/26/2005 16:26 GMT - AFP