[JURIST] An Egyptian state security court convicted Muhammad Sayed Saber of spying for Israel's Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad) [official website] Monday and sentenced the former Egyptian Atomic Energy Agency [FAS backgrounder] employee to life in prison. Two foreign nationals, Brian Peter of Ireland and Shiro Izo of Japan, were convicted in absentia and also sentenced to life imprisonment. Saber, who passed documents to Mossad in exchange for $17,000, argued he was innocent because he only turned over outdated material that posed no security threat to Egypt [JURIST news archive].

Saber was arrested [JURIST report] in February, but Egyptian authorities delayed the announcement of the arrest until April pending further investigation. Egypt is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [text; JURIST news archive] and is allowed to develop peaceful uses of nuclear technology under international supervision. AP has more.