Grand Sunni Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani played down a report of an assassination attempt against his life.

Qabbi stressed that the report “comes within the framework of efforts to disrupt the political and constitutional functions in Lebanon.”

The report, published by the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper, said Lebanese intelligence disrupted an assassination attempt on Qabbani that was to take place on the first day of Eid el-Fitr on Sunday.

It said that according to information obtained by the Lebanese intelligence, the assassination was intended to be done by means of a suicide operation inside Mohammed al-Amin Mosque during the Eid prayers.

In remarks published by the daily an-Nahar on Tuesday, Qabbani said al-Anbaa report also aimed at “spreading fear among citizens as well as destabilizing security and stability in Lebanon.”

Meanwhile, a security source told an-Nahar that security forces took “precautionary measures” around mosques and religious centers during Eid el-Fitr “to prepare for any emergency situation.”

He said the Lebanese army command took Dar al-Fatwa’s permission for tightening security measures around a number of spiritual and political leaders taking part in Eid prayers, in addition to clearing the streets leading to the mosque of vehicles.

Among the security measures was searching worshipers entering the mosque for fear of an infiltration attempt by one or more terrorists who could be wearing an explosive belt.

As-Safir newspaper, for its part, quoted a well-informed Lebanese military source as saying that the army command has received information about a possible terrorist attack against by a fundamentalist group against participants in the Eid prayers at Mohammed al-Amin mosque in downtown Beirut.

BEIRUT: Lebanese troops have arrested five members of Al-Qaeda inspired Fatah al-Islam militant group in the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj al-Shamali, near the southern port city of Tyre. According to well-informed security sources, the five men were tasked with monitoring activity of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) “in order to plot attacks against its peacekeepers.” The sources said the arrests were based on information gathered by Lebanese authorities from Fatah al-Islam inmates who revealed that there are sleeper cells in certain areas, including refugee camps in southern Lebanon. They said among those cells are ones seeking to target UNIFIL. – The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Investigations into an alleged Fatah al-Islam militant revealed that the man arrested had no connection with the group, a well-informed security source told The Daily Star Tuesday. Earlier this week, police raided the house of Ahmad Shamaa in Jiyyeh, suspecting he had engaged in fighting with Internal Security Forces in the northern port city of Tripoli in 2007. Police seized 40 Kalashnikov rifles, two M-16s, four handguns and B-7 rocket launchers from Shamaa’s house. Security sources said Monday the wea­pons were stolen from a Hizbullah arms cache in the southern town of Harouf, near Nabatieh. The serial numbers of weapons stolen from the Hizbullah arms cache matched those on weapons found inside Shamaa’s home. – The Daily Star

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army said on Saturday that it arrested several people involved in shooting incidents in the Bekaa town of Hermel and the northern city of Tripoli’s Qobbeh region which resulted in the death of three people. An army communiqué said the military arrested 11 people involved in the shooting of a policeman in Hermel and seized arms and ammunition from them.

“Corporal Anwar Mohammad Nasseredine, who was in his 20s, was killed on the spot when gunmen opened fire from their jeep as he drove through the town in his private car,” a security official said Friday. “The incident was a settling of accounts in a family feud.”
Nasseredine’s clan attacked members of the Allaw family whom they blamed for shooting, said security officials on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Clans in the Hermel region, which is known for growing cannabis and opium, are heavily armed. Similar clashes have occurred in the past.

After sunset on Friday, dozens of armed men from both clans were in the streets of Hermel as Lebanese troops tried to stop the clashes.

The unrest came a day after Lebanese troops captured four men wanted in car theft cases and other crimes in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

In April, gunmen ambushed Lebanese troops in the Bekaa, spraying their military vehicle with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. Four soldiers were killed and an officer was wounded in the attack.

The ambush also came after a push by Lebanese troops to crack down on the drug trade and hunt fugitives wanted for other crimes in the Bekaa, and the assault had the hallmarks of a revenge attack by clansmen.
Saturday’s Lebanese Army statement added that the army arrested several gunmen, who took part in Friday night’s Qobbeh clashes, which killed two men.

Security officials said on Friday that members of two families opened fire at each other leaving two dead and three wounded. The shooting erupted after drivers disagreed on who had right of way on the road, the officials said.

In other news, the Internal Security Forces arrested in the southern town of Nabatieh a four-member gang accused of stealing vehicles in the Bekaa and selling them on in the south, the National News Agency reported Saturday.

The NNA said an investigation with two other people, who were arrested Friday on the Ansar-Babliyeh road, led to the arrest of the men. Stolen vehicles were found in possession of the group. Several Lebanese citizens, who had bought the cars from the gang, were also brought in for questioning.

Meanwhile, security sources have warned that extremists could use advanced technology to carry out terrorist attacks against security forces and officials in Lebanon, Al-Mustaqbal daily reported on Saturday.

According to the newspaper, the sources said that an Arab national had visited the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh and delivered three Palestinians, who had been charged in absentia for carrying out terrorist activities, a CD that explains how to booby-trap cameras, mail packages and mobile phones. – The Daily Star, with Naharnet and AP

The Lebanese army said on Saturday that it arrested several people involved in shooting incidents in the eastern town of Hermel and the northern city of Tripoli’s Qubbah region which resulted in the death of three people.
An army communiqué said the military arrested 11 people involved in the shooting on a policeman in Hermel and seized arms and ammunition from them.
“Corporal Anwar Mohammad Nasseredine, who was in his 20s, was killed on the spot when gunmen opened fire from their jeep as he drove through town in his private car,” a security official said Friday.

“The incident was a settling of accounts in a family feud,” he said.

The communiqué also said that the army arrested several gunmen, who took part in the Qubbah clashes, which killed two brothers.

An argument over a child hit by a car escalated into an exchange of gunfire between two families, an army spokesman said Friday.

“The child was hit by a car earlier today in Qubbah, Tripoli but was unharmed,” the spokesman said.

An Israeli man who crossed the border into Lebanon was sent back and handed over to police, the Israeli army said in a statement on Friday.
It said his return was made possible thanks to “the efficiency and determination” of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) which worked in cooperation with the Lebanese army.

Military sources said the 30-year-old man who was returned to Israel overnight is apparently mentally ill.

Israel fought a 34-day war against Hizbullah in 2006 that killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon and 160 Israelis.(AFP)

BEIRUT: The Islamist fugitive who fled Lebanon’s highest-security prison was captured by the Lebanese Army on Wednesday, just over 24 hours after staging a remarkable escape. Taha Hajj Suleiman, who had been detained at Roumieh prison, east of Beirut, had been on the run following a pre-dawn breakout on Tuesday. A manhunt involving helicopters was immediately launched, eventually tracking Suleiman down. He was found hiding in bushes in the woods of Bsalim Village, a senior Internal Security Force (ISF) source told The Daily Star.

“Between 10 and 11 this morning, the prisoner was detained in the Bsalim region, not far from Roumieh Prison,” said the source. The mission was carried out with the help of Lebanese Army commandos, and the prisoner had been taken away for military intelligence interrogation, the source added.

Military Prosecutor Judge Sakr Sakr filed complaints Wednesday against four officers and four ISF members for neglect over the escape, the National News Agency reported. The defendants were questioned by investigating magistrate Judge Maroun Zakhour and warrants were issued against the men, including a major and a first lieutenant.

Security forces had combed large areas of Beirut in a bid to find Suleiman – a Syrian national and member of the Islamist group Fatah al-Islam – who had been described by security officials as “dangerous.” He is being held on terrorism charges.

Suleiman was the only inmate to successfully flee the prison after eight members of Fatah al-Islam sawed off the bars of their cells and used tied-together blankets to scale down the walls of their block. Once outside the building, the men stood on each other’s shoulders in an attempt to breach the prison’s perimeter wall, according to security officials.

Prison guards were scrambled, detaining seven of the would-be escapees, but Suleiman managed to get over the fence and into the woods surrounding Roumieh.
Speculation abounds as to how Suleiman could have escaped with seeming ease from Lebanon’s highest-security institution. Media reports on Wednesday alleged that the nature of the breakout pointed to external coordination. Head of the ISF, Ashraf Rifi, was quick to rule out any conspiracy.

He said the escape was “due to neglect on the part of prison security” but said he didn’t believe the incident “had anything to do with collaboration inside or outside the prison.”

President Michel Sleiman, meeting with visitors on Wednesday, said any negligence facilitating the escape must be exposed and called for stricter future measures to prevent a repeat of the incident.

Lebanese Forces bloc MP Joseph Maalouf, speaking on Free Lebanon radio on Wednesday, labelled the timing of the escape “questionable.”

Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud has come under criticism for failing to reform Lebanon’s ailing penal system. In response to the incident on Tuesday, Baroud said many complaints of “incompetence within prisons” had been transferred to the Lebanese judiciary.
In remarks published by As-Safir on Wednesday, Baroud claimed he had a “clear conscience” over the incident.

Baroud moved swiftly following the escape to order the arrest of several prison officials after an initial ministry inquiry cited “deficiencies that might have facilitated the escape.”

He ordered the instant relocation of 60 staff from prisons across the country and promised that a further 300 ISF posts would change in the coming two months.

Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar applauded Baroud’s decision to transfer security officers.

“Issues such as Fatah al-Islam and terrorism are issues the whole government agrees on and strongly seeks a solution to … This matter concerns the Interior Ministry and not the Justice Ministry,” he said. “I trust Minister Baroud’s judgment and decisions.”

Suleiman’s escape came in the wake of a riot earlier this month at Roumieh when 21 inmates were freed from their cells after a prisoner seized a master key from a security guard. Rioters started fires in the prison.

Baroud refused to be implicated in any breach of penitentiary security. “My conscience is clear. I will let the people hold me responsible for my actions,” he said.

He added that “political motives are behind the criticism,” and stressed he didn’t wish to “present himself as a victim under the banner ‘I’m a target.’”

He warned that if people thought they could use him as a scapegoat for blame, “then they are wrong, since my dignity comes before the ministry.
“I reject being accused of neglect because the truth is opposite of what we’re seeing,” he said. “My honor comes before the [Interior] Ministry and professionalism comes first.”

As-Safir alleged on Wednesday that Roumieh’s Fatah al-Islam residents “receive special attention and benefit from hot water, computers and cell phones.” It raised several questions over the state of the Lebanese prison system and suggested that Roumieh was on the verge of becoming “a state within a state.” Najjar echoed suggestions of preferential treatment, describing prisons in Lebanon resembling “Ali Baba’s cave.”

Suleiman was arrested and charged, along with others, for killing Lebanese troops during the fighting and is suspected of involvement in a spate of bomb attacks across the country.

Fatah al-Islam fought a bloody battle in the summer of 2007 against the Lebanese Army from their stronghold within the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Although the army prevailed, crushing the insurgency after three months, the clashes killed 220 militants, 171 soldiers and 47 Palestinian civilians dead. – With Carol Rizk, agencies

The Lebanese army has recaptured an Islamist militant who escaped from a high security prison.

Security officials said Taha Hajj Suleiman was re-arrested in the woods east of Beirut near the jail he escaped from a day earlier.

Mr Suleiman is being held on charges of participating in a 15-week battle with the Lebanese army at Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in 2007.

His group, Fatah al-Islam, had seized control of the camp.

Some 440 people died in the fighting, including 170 regular army soldiers.

The break-out reportedly occurred after the Syrian national’s comrades from Fatah al-Islam formed a human ladder at Roumieh prison and he was able to scale the walls to escape.

Police had described the fugitive as “dangerous” and immediately launched a search in the early hours of Tuesday using helicopters and police dogs to hunt him down.

Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naeem Qassem said the Lebanese are more in support of the resistance than before adding that Hizbullah will be part of the next national unity government.

“It seems that the outcome is contrary to what Israel wants, Hizbullah will enter the next government and the Lebanese today stand with the resistance more than ever.” Qassem said.
He went on to add that many have recently heard Israeli threats “but Israel has withdrawn its threats, why? Because it found that threats won’t affect our Lebanese arena. It is a desperate attempt to exhibit force…to affect the formation of government and to move people away from Hizbullah.”

Qassem said that the victory of the July 2006 war shook the Israeli preventive power and made all Muslim, Arab and free forces in the world aware of the fact that they could “defeat injustice irrespective of its power.”

“This July victory changed the formula in Lebanon and the region. Following the July victory there is no defeat, no submission and no surrender,” Qassem said.

He ended by saying that the resistance is ready to confront any aggression saying: ” their threats don’t scare us, rather we found that it scared the Israelis instead.”