Lebanon arrests head of Qaeda-linked group
- By editorial -
- Jan 02, 2014
Beirut: Lebanese troops have arrested the leader of the Al Qaeda-linked group that claimed a double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in November, according to the defence minister.
Majid al-Majid, the “emir” of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, “was arrested by the intelligence services of the Lebanese army in Beirut,” Defence Minister Fayez Ghosn said, without specifying when the arrest took place.
“He was wanted by the Lebanese authorities and is currently being interrogated in secret,” the minister added.
On Wednesday, a Twitter account belonging to Sirajeddin Zreikat, a member of the Sunni Muslim extremist group, appeared to have been suspended.
Zreikat had claimed responsibility for the double bombing at the Iranian embassy in Beirut that killed 25 people.
He had warned of more attacks in Lebanon if the Iran-allied Shia movement Hezbollah kept sending troops to support President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria's civil war.