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Lebanese army thwarts terror plot

Xinhua, January 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Lebanese army revealed Thursday that its Intelligence Directorate thwarted a plot to carry out "a series of suicide attacks."

The army Guidance Directorate said in a statement that the military intelligence agents arrested Bassam Hussam al-Naboush, Elie Tony al-Warraq, aka Abou Ali, and Syrian national Muhannad Ali Mohammed Abdul Qader, who were plotting to carry out terrorist operations against army posts and residential neighborhoods.

The statement added that the suspects were moving around the country with fake Syrian and Palestinian IDs, pointing that "investigations revealed that they were affiliated with the group led by the fugitives Osama Mansour and Shadi al-Mawlawi."

The army said the interrogation of the detainees is underway, while the rest of the group's members are being pursued.

Known as fundamentalist Islamists, Mansour, Mawlawi and their gunmen were engaged in unprecedented clashes against the army in Tripoli's old souks and Bab al-Tabbaneh during last October.

The battles have also spread to the nearby northern regions of Bhannine and al-Mhammara, where the army was executing the Council of Ministers' decision to restore calm and order to the northern city.

Last week, two suicide bombers who hail from Tripoli's al-Mankoubeen targeted a popular cafe in Jabal Mohsen, killing nine and wounding 37 others. Endit