The Court of Cassation on Tuesday approved the retrial of Lebanese citizen Mahmoud Rafeh after he was sentenced to death on charges of spying for Israel.

The court approved the plea which was submitted by Rafeh’s attorney.

The court set May 13 as the date for the retrial.

The Lebanese army arrested on June 10 , 2006 the members of an alleged Israeli spy ring, including Mahmoud Rafeh, his wife, and two children. Police discovered bomb-making materials, code machines and other espionage equipment in his home. MP Walid Jumblatt who at the time was an outspoken critic of Hezbollah, suspected that the exposure of the spy ring was a Hezbollah fabrication.