Egyptian X-Files : The Last Interview of a spy on Egyptian State TV

I am addicted to the new Egyptian TV channel "Al Araby TV" , this channel should continue during Ramadan and afterwards , not only we are being presented to our old TV and its stars but also we are being presented to another part of our history recorded on Camera , we listen to Nasser and Sadat's speeches , we watch to Taha Hussein and Tawfik El-Hakim talking in flash and this is only what is remained from thousands of records that survived fire and theft.

I know that "The international club" was the hopeless attempt of the Egyptian TV to revive its variety show "The White Piano" and I know that many singers and actors were presented for the first time to viewers through it, I know that Samir Sabri, Farial Saleh and Salama Shamaa began to make their names as household names especially Sabri through it and I know its only relation to politics was the decision of TV administration to cancel it based on the fact Fifi Abdou went on it and said on air that she came from Meit Abu-Kom village just like President Sadat¹ !! 

So it was a huge surprise to me to find out that that variety show was the only Egyptian TV show to record an interview with a convicted spy in Egypt, yes and you will be even more amazed to know that the one who conducted the interview professionally was Samir Sabri. That convicted spy, that Dina was none other than Inshrah Moussa and that was in the year 1977.

Inshrah Moussa and her husband Ibrahim Shaheen were the most famous spy couple caught in Egypt in 1974, they were called the treason family as their sons knew about their activities since 1969.

Inshrah is originally from Maniya, in Upper Egypt and in 1951 while attending a wedding for one of her relatives in Cairo along with her father she met 22 years old half Egyptian-half Palestinian Ibrahim Shaheen from Al Arish who asked her hand in marriage.

Despite her family's hesitance, they approved and she moved to Al Arish to start a new life with her governmental accountant husband. She gave birth to 3 boys whom she sent to Cairo to live their uncle in order to receive proper education in 1963.

In 1966 Shaheen was arrested for bribery and was sentenced 3 months in jail ; it was a turning point for the Shaheens because after his release the six days war soon erupted and they found no income nor food; of course that was not an excuse for treason but for someone who accepted to take bribes treason was not a big thing.  The Shaheens were recruited by Mossad during the early months of Al Arish occupation, they were a perfect couple because they had a reason and a cover to return back to Cairo: Their kids.

For years they started as sleeping agents to become powerful spy couple taking their kids weekly trips around the country to photograph our military bases and receiving ranks in the Israeli army.

The Egyptian intelligence discovered them when they began to spend foolishly especially their eldest son still the smoking gun was when the couple used a state of the art then transmission device wrongly sending short wave signals our GIS devices caught.

 It seems that the couple due to their modest education broke something in that device and thus one of them had to travel to Rome to meet some Mossad agent to replace that device, that one was Inshrah whose alias or rather official name in Israel was Dina Chaim. Dina or Inshrah went and met with the Mossad agent who gave her a new one³.

After that short urgent visit to Rome Inshrah returned back to Cairo to find the GIS officers welcoming her in her luxurious apartment as Madam Dina thought the device sent a message to Tel Aviv in the end: Thanks for your cooperation, looking forward to next time.

The family was arrested, Shaheen and Moussa were to be executed, their sons were sent to juvenile. Shaheen was executed first before Inshrah whom was saved by Israeli proposal to exchange spies, the deal was Inshrah and her children for our spies in Tel Aviv.

Inshrah and her boys left Egypt for good and went Israel to become Israeli Jewish Dina Chaim and her boys.

The last thing we have heard about Inshrah was from 10 years through an interview in Yediot Ahronot, she did not regret working as a spy and she would it again. Dina was working as a clean lady in public bathrooms during that time by the way.

This was the Shaheens story in a nutshell, there are books and a TV series about them called "The fall in Beir Sheeba" , it is not every day that you find a whole family convicted of treason.

Now you know the story of the family of treason, I will leave with that rare and last interview Inshrah ever made in the Egyptian media in the year 1977 before heading to Tel Aviv for good. "I am working on posting a better quality video online"


I was watching that full episode mainly to see young Nabila Ebeid speaking first then I found myself watching a new segment with a lady called Dina and Sabri speaking about spy wars , it took me a couple of moments to understand what was going on and who that lady speaking on TV was , this is why the small intro was missed.

I can't guess what the GIS wanted from that interview especially that President Sadat did not release her because of her plea but he exchanged her with our spies !!
Maybe they wanted to hit three birds with one stone with that interview in Egypt's most viewed shows then:

1. A public service to warn whoever has got mad thoughts from any kind
2. A Warning to Israel spies in Egypt then that would be caught like the Shaheens and Israel would not save their asses.
3. Exposing Inshrah to the Egyptians to make it hard for her to return back home !! "Still she seemed to not be faking her emotions"

I am surprised by how she looked because according to what I read she was a femme fatale who slept with Mossad officers and turned men's head around, she seemed to be a low-class woman which is obvious from the way she talked.

Sabri now

Samir Sabri is a multi-talented entertainer, starting as a radio host in the European show then actor and a singer than a TV host ..etc.

He is like a Las Vegas-style entertainer, like Barry Manilow so to find him interviewing a spy, a convicted spy-like Inshrah in this way was a surprise.

 I compare his performance to all our news night talk show and I think he would top them in keeping his emotions and not abusing the guest who was convicted of treason and espionage, on the contrary.

Sabri did not play the role of the prosecutor, judge and also executioner who our TV hosts addict to play².
He knew his message very well and presented perfectly, that lady to appear there to send a message to the public and that message will not reach as wanted using fear and arrogance.
I do not think that Sabri had the slightest idea that that lady sitting in front of him would leave the country for the rest for life and along with her sons to live in Israel. 

Now interesting enough the Shaheens were busted during Zvi Zamir's time in Mossad, it was considered another fiasco for him because despite having army officers' relatives and despite being very powerful spies the Shaheens failed to know the time of the 1973 War.

Aside from the Ashraf Marwan saga which no one understands except the silent GIS, you got Heba Salim, the Shaheens and the infamous Munich not to mention the 1973 war.

Ironically when the promos of that episode were running, they were only focusing on Nabila Abid, only this week the channel administration realized the real star of the episode whom unfortunately was a traitor that betrayed her country.  
Notes

1. It was the joke of the Egyptians next day, Fifi comes from Meit Abu El-Kom like the president, Meit Abu El-Kom gives birth to presidents and belly dances alike …etc
2. Amr Adib, Ahmed Moussa and Moataz El-Damrdah will scream "hoooooow could you do it !!?" Adib can cross lines and call her names, Mona El-Shazely will cry and then smile with her sweet tiny eyes "Egypt gives you another chance" ,Reem Maged will look to her in disgust and astonishment "Egypt forgets and forgives", Rola Kharsa will look to her in pity , Moataz Matar will keep calling her "Ya Omy, my mother", Ibrahim Hegazy on Nile Sports "yes Nile Sport" will not host her but will scream ' I fought in 73'  and of course Tamer Amin will make her kill herself  with his looks and words  !!
3. It was a very very expensive device, very rare in the intelligence world; a technology that was still new in the early 1970s.