An Israeli court has indicted a German national for planning a suicide attack on behalf of the Lebanese-based militant group Hezbollah.

The man, who has been named as Stefan Smyrek, aged 26, has been charged with membership of a terrorist organization and conspiring to assist Israel's enemies.

He is reported to have confessed to the Israeli authorities that he was recruited by Hezbollah during a visit to Lebanon.

A Hezbollah official has denied any connection with the man and said the story has been invented by Israeli intelligence.

'Trained in the use of explosives'

According to Israeli media reports, Smyrek, a convert to Islam, has a criminal record and a history of drug abuse.

Prosecutors said he was arrested in November as he entered Israel at Ben Gurion airport, after a tip off from police in the Netherlands that he was on his way to the country.

Police said Smyrek had confessed that he had been in a Hezbollah camp in Lebanon from August to November where he was trained in light weapons and explosives.

There he prepared a videotape in which he explained his aim for blowing himself up "in an Israeli population centre". Police said Smyrek's intended targets were Tel Aviv or the northern town of Haifa.

He is reported to have said that if he were released he would still try and carry out his mission.

Guerrilla war

The Israeli authorities have said that his confession is evidence of efforts by Hezbollah, who are engaged in a guerrilla war with the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, to extend the conflict into Israel itself.

The Israelis said this is the second time Hezbollah has used an agent with a foreign passport to try and carry out missions in the country.

Earlier this year, Lebanese national Hussein Makaded, travelling on a fake British passport, entered Israel, but was critically injured when the bomb he was preparing went off prematurely in a Jerusalem hotel room.

Outside of the Makaded incident, there have been no other reports of Hezbollah involvement in suicide bombings within Israel. But the arrest is likely to add to existing concerns after recent suicide attacks in the country by the militant Palestinian group, Hamas.

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