Judge Saqr orders convicting 21 persons over Tripoli blasts

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr ordered on Wednesday convicting 21 persons in the case of the twin attack that targeted two mosques in the northern city of Tripoli, and on charges of terrorism.   

Among those convicted were Arab Democratic Party leader Ali Eid and the head of the pro-Syria Islamic Tawhid Movement-Command Council, Sheikh Hashem Menqara.   

The state-run National News Agency NNA noted that Judge Saqr ordered the conviction of several people after conducting the first assessment in the mosques' bombing case.    

Judge Saqr referred the 21-name list to First Military Investigation Judge Riyad Abu Ghida, who will issue the convictions.  

On Friday the 23rd of August, two explosions rocked the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli near the al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques, leaving 45 killed and almost 500 others injured.

The blasts came amid rising tension in Lebanon resulting from Syria's civil war, which has sharply polarized the country along sectarian lines and between supporters and opponents of the regime of President Bashar Assad.                    

Head of the pro-Syria Islamic Tawhid Movement-Command Council Sheikh Hashem Menqara was detained on Thursday the 29th of August over “withholding information” in regards to the twin blasts that rocked the city of Tripoli.