Beirut: Lebanese soldiers on Sunday killed a wanted militant suspected of involvement in a suicide bombing at a Beirut hotel last month and arrested another man, setting off gunbattles in the tense northern city of Tripoli, said state media.
The National News Agency said special forces raided an apartment complex early on Sunday to arrest a man identified as Monzer Al Hassan, a dual Swedish-Lebanese citizen. Authorities believe Al Hassan transported explosives to two Saudi Arabian suicide bombers, one of whom blew himself up in the hotel. The other would-be suicide bomber was wounded and detained.
The NNA said Al Hassan resisted arrest and was killed in a shootout. A militant website claimed Al Hassan detonated an explosives-laden belt he was wearing as army forces sought to arrest him.
At around the same time, Lebanese forces arrested a man identified as Hussam Al Sabbagh, whom state media said was responsible for “terrorist acts.” Other Lebanese media identified Al Sabbagh as a dual Lebanese-Australian citizen.
The arrest raids came after some two weeks of heightened tensions in Tripoli, which has seen a series of deadly clashes between supporters and opponents of the embattled government in neighbouring Syria since the start of the uprising there in 2011. The city had been fairly quiet since April, however, when the Lebanese army began arresting gunmen linked to the clashes.
Several people were wounded when gunbattles broke out in a tense Tripoli neighbourhood following Al Sabbagh’s arrest, state media reported.
