LA Arrests Terror Cell Planning to Assassinate Security Chief in North, Arrests Cousin of Ahmed Al-Asir

Local Editor

The Lebanese Army said it arrested five members of a terrorist cell  planning to assassinate a senior security officer in north Lebanon, the military said in a communique issued on Wednesday

According to a military statement, the Lebanese Army Intelligence arrested the terrorist cell in Qalamoun, 5 kilometers south of the northern city of Tripoli.

The network was seeking to assassinate a prominent security official in the North.

The detainees were identified as: Wassim Ahmed al-Qass, Wissam Ahmed al-Qass, Dani Ahmed al-Qass, Amjad Nouhad al-Khatib and Nabil Kamel Bayda.

Baida, who hails from Qalamoun, is wanted by Lebanese authorities on multiple arrest warrants, a security source said.

"The army intelligence will continue to pursue suspects to arrest the remaining members of the cell and reveal their connections and schemes," the statement said.

Security forces began recently enforcing strict measures and carrying out raids in several areas after obtaining information on a plot to target hospitals and high-ranking security officials.

Additionally, the army intelligence also arrested the cousin of fugitive Ahmed al-Asir in Abra, a suburb of the southern city of Sidon in Lebanon on Wednesday.

His cousin, Abdul Rahim al-Asir, was apprehended at the pharmacy where he worked, reports said.

Ahmed al-Asir had gone into hiding following deadly gun battles with the Lebanese army in June 2013. Indictments were issued in February against him and 56 of his followers that called for the death penalty.

Ahmad al-Assir who supports the overwhelmingly extremists fighting against the Syrian government, is still nowhere to be found along with pop idol Fadel Shaker.

He teamed up with Shaker, a onetime prominent singer, around three years ago.

Ahmad al-Asir's supporters opened fire on an army checkpoint near the cleric's headquarters in Abra in June last year in 2013. The attack and the fierce clashes that ensued left around 18 soldiers and more than 20 gunmen dead.

The gun battles concentrated in the area of the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque, where Asir was a preacher, in addition to nearby buildings in Abra.

Meanwhile, security agencies also detained a Syrian national accused of monitoring a number of streets while he was on his way to the eastern border town of Arsal on Wednesday.

The man who is from Raad family was allegedly heading to Arsal to get paid for monitoring several streets in the capital Beirut.

The suspect confessed that he was paid $300 for each information he presented.

He also told security agencies that he was dealing with a man called Abou Mouhannad from the eastern Bekaa town of Majdel Anjar.

Sources: News Agencies, Edited by website team