Lebanese man to be tried on charges of terrorism by Cypriot court

A 26-year-old Lebanese man arrested three weeks ago for possession of a large quantity of potential explosives will be tried by an Assize Court on charges of terrorism, a judge said Friday.

The man was named as Hussein Bassam Abdallah, a holder of a Canadian passport.

A lower court in the port city of Larnaca committed the man to be tried by a three-member criminal court, with the hearing scheduled to start on June 29.

His committal was decided during a closed-door session of the court to protect national interest.

A police spokesman said after the hearing that 16 charges were brought against the man covering the period between 2012 and 2017.

The charges brought against him include two counts of possessing 5 tons of ammonium nitrate, a substance used in making explosive devices, two counts of being a member of a terrorist organization, four charges of conspiring to commit a serious crime, etc.

The court ordered the man to be held in custody until his trial.

Sources said that the man admitted being a member of Hezbollah but kept silent on which the targets of the attacks would be.

The police have issued an international warrant for the arrest of the owner of the house in which the explosives were found. He is said to be a Lebanese traveling on a French passport.

In 2013, a Hezbollah operative was sentenced by a Cypriot court to four years in prison for a plot to attack Israeli tourists on the island.

Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, a holder of Lebanese and Swedish passports, acknowledged membership in Hezbollah and admitted to having staked out areas frequented by Israeli tourists.

But he claimed he did not know his work was part of a plot to kill Israelis. Endit