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Police arrests dormant cell of Fatah al-Islam in s. Lebanon
Police arrested members of a dormant cell for the notorious Fatah al-Islam terrorist network in the southern provincial capital of Sidon and confiscated weapons, computers and a list of targets, a security source told Naharnet on Monday. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said four Palestinian members of the dormant cell were arrested in two separate busts and a manhunt was launched for the fifth.Two of the suspects, identified as brothers Younis and Youssef Shibli, were rounded up from the family's flat in Taamir Harert Saida district, east of the port city. Two other suspects, Ismail al-Sayyad and Mahmoud Shaaban, were rounded up from the city of Sidon in a night time raid Sunday, the sources said. A ranking source said a fifth suspect, whom he refused to identify, remains at large and a man hunt was launched to arrest him. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "we might end up with more than just five members. This is an ongoing operation." The raids were carried out by the Data Branch, an anti-terrorism police force headed by Lt. Col. Wissam al-Hassan. The Data Branch brought in reinforcements from Beirut and carried out the raids Sunday based on information obtained by investigators from a Palestinian suspect who goes by the name of Jamal Malas. Malas was arrested after an exchange of fire with police in the northern town of Tripoli on July 31. Fatah al-Islam's military commander Shehab al-Qadour, who goes by the code name of Abu Huerira, was killed in the clash. Members of the Sidon Fatah al-Islam cell were affiliated with Qadour, who had been based at the city's Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp before moving to north Lebanon's Nahr al-Bared camp, where Fatah al-Islam terrorists have been fighting the Lebanese army since May 20. Police had confiscated 30.000 dollars from the Malas Residence near Tripoli, and the source said the Shibli brothers "testified that they had sent the money to finance Qadour's operations in the north." The four detained suspects also testified to police investigators that they had carried out three bombing attacks in the Christian villages of Roum and Kfar Falous, east of Sidon, earlier this year. Fatah al-Islam has repeatedly threatened to carry out attacks in other provinces than north Lebanon. Posted by: Fred 2007-08-14 |
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