Did Israeli intelligence have an agent in Syria

Did Israeli intelligence have an agent in Syria who supplied details of the travel plans of Fathi Shkaki, the leader of Islamic Jihad, enabling Mossad agents to shoot him dead in Malta last October? writes Patrick Cockburn in Jerusalem.

The Israeli press has been considering a story in US News & World Report about how Mossad had recruited a Palestinian student in Bulgaria four years ago. There are a number of flaws in the story. Shkaki must have known Mossad was looking for him, but he made little effort to conceal his whereabouts. He had just come from Libya, closely watched by intelligence services, and had checked into a hotel where he had stayed before. He had gone shopping when he was killed.