REPORT: Relatives of Majed al-Majed ask for repatriation of his body

The Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri told LBCI on Sunday that the relatives of Majed al-Majed submitted a request to the Saudi foreign ministry asking for the repatriation of his body to Saudi Arabia.

Ambassador Asiri also noted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia did not ask for an autopsy of the body.

Earlier, caretaker Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi said that acting State Prosecutor Judge Samir Hammoud tasked a forensic medical doctor with following up on the case of Majed al-Majed, pointing out that the doctor’s report assures that the latter died due to a deterioration in his health.

In this regard, sources reported to LBCI that investigations were not conducted with al-Majed.

A Lebanese army general said on Saturday the leader of an al-Qaeda-linked group that has conducted attacks across the Middle East before shifting its focus to Syria's civil war died in custody in Lebanon.                 

The general said Majed al-Majed died after suffering kidney failure.                                  

In the same regard, sources told LBCI that al-Majed was in a critical health condition the moment of his arrest, since he was suffering from kidney failure.

Al-Majed, a Saudi citizen was detained in Lebanon late last month and had been held at a secret location.

He was the purported commander of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades and one of the 85 most-wanted individuals in his native Saudi Arabia.

The US State Department designated the group a foreign terrorist organization in 2012, freezing any assets it holds in the United States and banning Americans from doing business with the group.