 SIDON: Three new people, including a Muslim cleric, were arrested on Monday on suspicion of throwing a hand grenade at the Lebanese Army barracks in Beirut last week.
| A Muslim cleric? Now, don't that come as a surprise! |
According to security sources, a police unit raided an apartment on Awqaf street in Sidon at around noon, seizing machine guns, missiles, bombs, ammunition, hand grenades, detonators and maps.
| Yes. They are obviously very devout. |
Policemen were seen carrying several white bags and cardboard boxes of weapons and ammunition out of the apartment and loading them into four Internal Security Forces vehicles. The sources said the apartment that was raided belongs to Sheikh Mohammad al-Ansar, and is located in a building belonging to the Dar al-Awqaf (the Islamic Endowment Center).
The raid was carried out after unidentified individuals provided information about the bombing that targeted the Lebanese Army's Prince Bashir barracks in Ramlet al-Baida. Another police unit raided a residential apartment along the eastern boulevard of Sidon, seizing weapons and ammunition. That apartment belongs to an Islamic activist - identified only as H. K. Since the blast, 14 suspects have been arrested in a series of raids on homes and mobile phone shops. Telephone tapping revealed that the suspects were connected to illegal activities in the Lebanese territories. Detectives are trying to decipher some coded messages that were recorded during telephone calls and are comparing the messages with the suspects' statements. |