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| Terror Networks |
| Lebanon nabs a live one |
| 2002-04-24 |
| Authorities have detained a Palestinian man suspected of being linked to groups that financially aid al-Qaida. Prosecutor Adnan Addoum told The Associated Press that Ali Mahmoud al-Hajj, who holds Lebanese travel documents and a Swedish passport, was detained Monday on arrival from Sweden at Beirut International Airport. Addoum ordered the Lebanese intelligence service to expand its interrogation of al-Hajj, who lives in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. Several European countries want the detainee over suspicion of collecting money for the Islamic Mujahed Movement, an Islamic group close to Asbat al-Ansar, a Sunni Muslim faction based in Ein el-Helweh. The US State Department says Asbat al-Ansar has links to al-Qaida, a claim that the group denies. During initial questioning, investigators learned that al-Hajj worked for several Islamic institutions that collect money for unspecified groups in the camp, Addoum said. The prosecutor said that al-Hajj claimed he had a close relationship with Sheikh Jamal Khattab, a Muslim cleric who heads the Islamic Mujahed Movement and the Imam of al-Nour Mosque in Ein el-Hilweh. Khattab told the AP that al-Hajj is a poor father of four daughters living in a refugee camp, has no links to political or militant organizations and travels to Sweden occasionally to work and earn money for his family. Addoum, the prosecutor general, said al-Hajj claimed he did not agree with the methods of al-Qaida and the Taliban movement, the former hard-line Islamic government of Afghanistan. He also opposed the September 11 terror attacks. Addoum said al-Hajj denied any links to Asbat al-Ansar, or Partisan's League. Asbat al-Ansar is thought to comprise about 300 Muslim fundamentalists living in Ein el-Hilweh, home to 70,000 Palestinians. Wowsers. Lebanon arrested a Bad Guy. That boy must stink out loud. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |