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.
U.S. national security sources on Tuesday confirmed the detention of Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid, reported leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which operates throughout the Middle East and has links to al Qaeda.
The Lebanese source, who declined to be named, said Majid had been arrested by the Lebanese army together with another Saudi militant, but did not say when they were captured or identify the second man. He said Majid had been living in the city of Sidon.
The Abdullah Azzam Brigades' Twitter account, from which they claimed the attack on the Iranian embassy, did not mention the arrest.
In the details, the Army Intelligence arrested Majid al-Majid, five days ago, more specifically on Friday night, on the Hazmieh-Fayadieh road after chasing him since he entered the Lebanese territories through the Syrian border.
Majid al-Majid, who entered Lebanon carrying a Syrian identity card under a fake name, had left al-Makased hospital in Beirut after he was hospitalized for kidney issues.
He was en route to Bekaa when the Army Intelligence ambushed him.
This as, high-ranking security sources told LBCI that Majid al-Majid is detained by the Army Intelligence, adding that investigations are underway.
The sources added that Majid al-Majid represents al-Qaeda in Lebanon, noting that he is not only wanted by the Lebanese authorities, but as well by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and numerous Western countries, mainly the United States.
According to the Long War Journal, a respected counter-terrorism blog, Majid is among 85 individuals identified on a Saudi government list issued in 2009 as most wanted for their alleged involvement with al-Qaeda.
The Long War Journal said that the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, named after a founder of al Qaeda and associate of the late Osama bin Laden, were formed some time after 2005 as a spinoff of al-Qaeda in Iraq. The blog said the group's mission was to attack targets in Lebanon and elsewhere around the Middle East.
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The media office of caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn issued a statement denying that Ghosn had made any comments to any media outlets.
This comes after Agence France Presse reported that Ghosn said the Lebanese army arrested Majid Mohammad Abdullah al-Majid, the chief of Abdullah Azzam Brigades which claimed responsibility for the Iranian embassy twin blasts.
This as, the head of Iran's parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, Alaeddin Broujerdi, praised efforts exerted by the Lebanese security apparatuses which have arrested persons involved in the bombings that rocked the Iranian embassy in Beirut.
In an interview with the semi-official Fars news agency, Broujerdi said the main suspect in the Iranian embassy twin attacks was arrested, noting that it is "a matter of interest" since he is a Saudi national.
LBCI/REUTERS
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