Feb 11 (Reuters) - A refugee advocate caught up in an

Italian political scandal over the recent release of an alleged

war criminal was targeted using sophisticated spyware, according

to an alert sent to him by iPhone maker Apple ( AAPL ).

David Yambio, the head of the Refugees in Libya group,

received the alert on November 13, according to a message he

shared with Reuters. The message warned him that his iPhone was

targeted in a "mercenary spyware attack" and that, "This attack

is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or

what you do."

Yambio told Reuters the surveillance was inexcusable.

"I know I'm not a criminal. I have never been a criminal.

Why should I be spied on?" he said.

Apple ( AAPL ) has periodically issued alerts to users who it

believes have been targeted using mercenary spyware, a practice

that dates back to 2021, when it sued the Israeli hacking

company NSO Group to curb its spying on Apple ( AAPL ) customers.

The circumstances of the alert received by Yambio late last

year are not clear. Apple ( AAPL ) did not immediately return a message

seeking comment and Yambio said he was reserving judgment on who

might be responsible for the hacking pending a forensic

examination of his device.

Yambio's disclosure comes amid an escalating scandal in

Italy over the alleged use of Paragon spyware to intercept the

communications of domestic opponents of Prime Minister Giorgia

Meloni. Anonymously sourced reports have claimed the spyware

company Paragon, which has marketed itself as a more responsible

alternative to NSO, cut its ties to the Italian government

following allegations the government had used Paragon's

technology to hack its critics.

Paragon has not returned repeated messages seeking comment

on the revelations. The Italian government did not immediately

return a message seeking comment on Yambio's case, although

officials have more broadly denied any involvement in the

hacking.

Yambio was one of the alleged victims of Libyan police

officer Osama Elmasry Njeem, who was released by Italian

authorities last month despite being wanted by the International

Criminal Court over a string of human rights abuses, including

murder, torture and rape.

He was arrested in Italy on January 19 on an ICC warrant but

was freed two days later and flown back to Libya on a government

plane, officially because of a procedural fault with his arrest.

Opposition politicians and human rights groups have accused

Meloni's government of freeing Njeem because it relies on Libyan

security forces to check the flow of African migrants crossing

the Mediterranean and did not want to antagonize them by

arresting such a high-profile figure.

The release triggered a legal investigation into Meloni, two

of her ministers, and a cabinet undersecretary.

Yambio was among those who publicly deplored Njeem's

release, calling it a "huge betrayal" at a news conference two

weeks ago held in Italy's parliament. Njeem has not publicly

commented on the charges against him.