Qortbawi Says 2 Detainees, Allegedly Linked to Qaida Network, Released
Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi revealed on Thursday that authorities released two detainees allegedly charged with forming an armed terrorist group and undermining the authority of the state, as well as having links to al-Qaida.
The two members allegedly belong to a six-member network that infiltrated Lebanon to carry out “sabotage” operations.
Qortbawi told al-Joumhouria newspaper that Shadi al-Mawlawi, who was detained on Saturday in Tripoli, and the remaining three members of the network are still under investigation.
However, al-Liwaa newspaper reported that authorities released 3 detainees, while al-Mawlawi, Qatari national Abdul Azizi Qataria and a Palestinian are still under arrest.
Meanwhile, al-Joumhouria reported that the army intelligence bureau arrested Lebanese Samir Kanjo and Syrian national Ons Othman for allegedly belonging to al-Qaida.
Obtained information revealed that there is “clear evidence” that links Kanjo and Othman to al-Qaida.
The two were detained in Beirut on Tuesday, the daily said.
On the Islamist detainees in Roumieh prison, Qortbawi told al-Joumhouria that they are comprised of 180 prisoners from Lebanon and various Arab countries.
He said that some of them might be released “anytime soon.”
Clashes erupted over the weekend in the northern city of Tripoli between the two rival neighborhoods of Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh and Alawite Jabal Mohsen after the General Security Department arrested al-Mawlawi.
His arrest angered the Islamist demonstrators in Tripoli who were holding sit-ins in al-Nour square over the past few weeks in protest against the continuous detention of the Islamist prisoners.
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