BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities arrested prominent writer and actor Ziad Itani on Friday on charges of "collaborating" with Israel and gathering information on political figures, judicial sources said, reports AFP.

Itani was detained "after several months of monitoring, follow-up and investigations within and outside" Lebanon, said the State Security Directorate General, in a statement carried by Lebanon's National News Agency. It said Itani, who is in his 40s, was being questioned "on charges of collaborating and communicating with the Israeli enemy".