Al-Absi, Fatah al-Islam's leader
צילום: AFP
Report: Fatah al-Islam official nabbed in Lebanon
Lebanese paper reports soldiers break into official's house after eight months of surveillance, and arrest him. According to intelligence obtained by army, suspect planned to take part in new terror activity
The Lebanese army arrested on of the leaders of the radical Fatah al-Islam organization Thursday night, Lebanese newspaper al-Nahar reported on Friday.
According to the report, the man is considered a particularly "big fish", due to the threat level attributed to him and his past involvement in terror activity.
According to the Lebanese report, soldiers broke into the house he was staying in in West Beirut and arrested him, after some eight months of surveillance activity.
The paper also reported that, according to intelligence obtained by the military, the suspect planned to take part in new terror activity. The man's name was not published, but it was noted that he is a Palestinian living in Lebanon.
The organization's leader is believed to be Shaker al-Absi, a Palestinian in his 50s, who in media interviews has slammed the United States and admited to supporting the ideology of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.
Al-Absi, who is believed to have taken part in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, was convicted in absentia by a Jordanian court for his involvement in the murder of an American diplomat.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese paper reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's special envoy and advisor on security and foreign policy, Kristof Hoisgen, during his brief visit in Beirut, gave Lebanese officials information on the entrance of terror elements from Arab countries to Lebanon's refugee camps.
The German envoy convoyed his concerns with regards to the manner in which the Lebanese authorities handle the situation inside and out of the refugee camps,, as well as in the area surrounding the Beirut airport.
He expressed his government's willingness to arm the Lebanese government with the means and equipment necessary to increase its security hold over these regions.
At the end of last month Lebanese security sources said they had intelligence indicating that al-Qaeda terror operatives were trying to infiltrate the country, in order to operate against Lebanese and Western interests and even attack UNIFIL forces stationed there.
The sources told American Arabic-language Radio Sawa that the operatives were coming from Pakistan and Arab countries and infiltrating Lebanon through its border with Syria.
