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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Warrants for 10 al-Qaeda suspects |
| 2008-01-16 |
| A military prosecutor Tuesday issued arrest warrants against 10 al-Qaeda suspects for allegedly planning to carry out terrorist attacks, illegal weapons possession and using forged identity cards, judicial officials said. All 10 are in custody, the officials said. Military prosecutor Rashid Mizher also issued arrest warrants against 10 other al-Qaeda suspects who are at large, the officials added. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, did not say when the 10 were detained or give their nationalities. Since last year's three month battle between the Lebanese army and Muslim extremists in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared, dozens of al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam suspects have been detained. In June, Lebanese troops discovered three vehicles rigged with explosives during a raid on a hideout in eastern Lebanon. The two cars and a van were discovered near the town of Bar Elias in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, a day after security forces captured three foreign militants in a nearby area. Lebanon's official National News Agency said the 10 were among 30 who were charged with joining an armed group with the aim of carrying out terrorist attacks, possessing weapons and explosives, forging identity cards and giving refuge to wanted criminals. The officials said that Mizher will question the 10 as of next week in the presence of their lawyers. Also Tuesday, Military Prosecutor George Rizk, indicted Lebanese citizen Mahmoud Rafeh and demanded the death sentence for him accusing him of being behind a 2003 explosion in Beirut that killed Hezbollah official Ali Hussein Saleh. Hezbollah blamed Israel for killing Saleh, who died when a bomb tore apart his car. Rizk demanded the death sentence for Rafeh for "being recruited by a hostile army and ... and giving it information." In 2006, the Lebanese army said it had arrested Rafeh, 60, a retired police officer, on suspicion of killing two Lebanese brothers who were members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. Rafeh "had links to Israeli intelligence," the army said then in a statement. Last week, prosecutor demanded the death sentence for Rafeh in the killing of the two brothers, Nidal and Mahmoud Majzoub. |
| Posted by:Fred |