KSA, US Confirm Arrest of Azzam Birgades “Emir”
Local Editor
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Awad Assiri confirmed that Lebanese authorities had informed Riyadh of arresting the leader of the terrorist group, Abdullah Azzam Brigades, Majed Bin Mohammad al-Majed.
In remarks to Saudi daily, Alriyadh, Assiri said that Lebanese authorities informed the Saudi embassy in Beirut the man arrested is Majed, adding that they are waiting for the DNA tests in order to be sure 100% of his identity.
Asked whether the Saudi Arabia will ask for the extradition of Majed, Assiri said that the Lebanese authorities were still interrogating the terrorist, noting that the embassy was following the issue, in order to be sure of his identity first.
“Then we’ll see,” the Saudi ambassador added.
In this context, Assiri pointed out that Majed is a Saudi citizen, and his country wants his extradition. However, he said that such move requires some measures in order to be sure of his identity, noting that these measures would take some time because of Majed’s health condition which it seems to be not good.
Meanwhile, Reuters news agency quoted two sources in the US National Security Council as saying they were confident of Majed’s arrest.
Majed, a high-profile terrorist wanted by the United States and other countries, is said to have been living in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.
He had earlier traveled to Syria to pledge allegiance to the notorious al-Nusra Front, which is fighting against the Syrian government.
The Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed responsibility for the twin bombings that killed 25 people and wounded over 150 others outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut on November 19.
Source: Newspapers | 02-01-2014 - 10:29 Last updated 02-01-2014 - 12:5 |
Lebanon interrogates Saudi jihadist tied to Iranian embassy attack
Published Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Updated 5:55 pm: Lebanese intelligence agents are interrogating the Saudi leader of a militant group that claimed a double suicide attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut last November, a Lebanese security source said on Wednesday.
The Lebanese source, who declined to be named, told Reuters that Majed al-Majed, the "emir" of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, had been arrested by the Lebanese army together with another Saudi militant.
But the source did not say when they were captured or identify the second man. He said Majed had been living in the city of Sidon.
The story of Majed's arrest first broke on Tuesday by Lebanon's LBCI television station which cited unnamed army sources who said the militant was arrested by army troops on Friday.
Reuters also cited two US national security sources on Tuesday who said Majed was in Lebanese custody.
And Lebanon's caretaker defense minister Fayez Ghosn was quoted by AFP Wednesday as saying that Majed was arrested and being interrogated by army intelligence.
But Ghosn later denied making any statement to AFP regarding Majed's case.
The Abdullah Azzam Brigades was designated in the United States as a "terrorist organization" in 2012.
It had also claimed responsibility for firing a barrage of rockets towards occupied Palestine from southern Lebanon in August.
The group was formed in 2009 and is believed to have branches in both Lebanon and the Arabian Peninsula.
According to Islamist sites, Majed was revealed to be the leader of the Brigades in 2012.
In 2009, Lebanese authorities sentenced Majed in absentia to life in prison for belonging to a different extremist group, the al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam.
That group was involved in heavy fighting with the Lebanese army in 2007 in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon, in which more than 400 people were killed, including 168 soldiers.
After the fighting, many members of the group took refuge in the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian camp, which is believed to house numerous Islamist extremists.
A Palestinian official in the camp told AFP on Wednesday that Majed had left Ain al-Helweh in mid-2012 for Syria.
"With the war in Syria, we decided that (non-Palestinian) Arab citizens would not be allowed to remain in the camp, after information that jihadists were fighting alongside the rebels," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"He left the camp with five Saudis and Kuwaitis and they went to Syria. We didn't know that he had returned to Lebanon."
(Reuters, AFP, Al-Akhbar)
Majed al-Majed, the Saudi commander of the al-Qaeda affiliated group Abdullah Azzam Brigades
Lebanese security forces have reportedly arrested Majed al-Majed, the Saudi commander of the al-Qaeda affiliated group Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which claimed responsibility for an attack on Iran’s Embassy in Beirut in November.
The Lebanese LBCI television reported on Tuesday that Majed had been arrested about a week ago in the Lebanese capital.
Lebanese authorities are waiting for the results of DNA tests to verify Majed's identity.
On November 19, two bomb attacks outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut killed 25 people and injured more than 150.
On December 3, Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia is behind the bombing, adding that he has no doubt that the Saudi intelligence agency has close links with the Abdullah Azzam Brigades.
The Abdullah Azzam Brigades “is a bona fide group that has a Saudi emir and its leadership is directly linked to Saudi intelligence,” Nasrallah said.
“Some of the branches that endorse the al-Qaeda logic have been put into action by the Saudi intelligence,” he stated.
The Hezbollah chief also noted that the bombing was Saudi Arabia’s expression of anger against Tehran because of Riyadh’s defeat in Syria.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. Reports indicate that the Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside the country.