A terrorist network led by a Yemeni national planned to kill the US ambassador to Beirut by firing a rocket-propelled grenade into his car in northern Lebanon earlier this year, judicial officials said Thursday. According to AP, the attack never materialized. Three Lebanese newspapers, citing security and other judicial sources, said Thursday the attempt during a visit by US Ambassador Vincent Battle to the northern port city of Tripoli on Jan. 15 was foiled when the envoy's motorcade changed its planned route.
In comments published in the As-Safir newspaper, Prosecutor General Adnan Addoum said the Yemeni national was hiding in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in southern Lebanon. Judicial and security officials quoted by the leading An-Nahar newspaper Thursday said Khaled Mohammed al-Ali, a leader of a terrorist network suspected of involvement in anti-Western attacks, has provided interrogators with information on the assassination plot. Al-Ali's arrest was announced Sunday. |