Asiri Expresses Relief over al-Majed's Arrest, Push for DNA Testing
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri expressed relief on Thursday over the arrest of Majed al-Majed, the "emir" of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, the al-Qaida linked group that claimed a double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in November.
“If DNA tests prove that the person detained is al-Majed then we're extremely thrilled,” Asiri said in comments published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat newspaper.
He pointed out that al-Majed “assaulted his country before attacking the Iranian Embassy,” pointing out that his country has been pursuing him before the twin suicide bombing that targeted Tehran's embassy in Beirut.
The diplomat, who currently resides in Riyadh, said that Saudi Arabia had previously issued a global alert over al-Majed's status.
In November, Saudi Arabia's embassy in Beirut has called on citizens to leave Lebanon because of the dangerous situation.
The warning came two days after a twin suicide bombings killed 25 people near the Beirut embassy of Saudi's regional rival Iran, which is located in the stronghold of Tehran ally Hizbullah.
Sources close to Asiri said in comments to al-Hayat that the delay in announcing the arrest of al-Majed is “due to Saudi Arabia's desire to confirm his identity through DNA tests.”
“Information obtained by the Lebanese authorities indicate that the detained person is al-Majed,” the sources noted.
According to the report, al-Majed was submitted to a hospital where he is undergoing treatment over kidney failure and under maximum security.
The newspaper said that contacts are ongoing between Asiri and Lebanese authorities to coordinate measures.
“It's normal to coordinate with the Lebanese authorities to continue the required legal measures in order to hand him over to Saudi Arabia if his identity was confirmed.”
He told AFP: “He was arrested by the intelligence services of the Lebanese army in Beirut.”
He did not specify when the arrest took place.
“He was wanted by the Lebanese authorities and is currently being interrogated in secret," the minister added.
Ghosn later denied to various media outlets that he had made any statements regarding the arrest.
Saudi Arabia's interior ministry also confirmed that Majid Mohammed Abdullah al-Majid, a Saudi citizen, was on a list of 85 suspects wanted by the kingdom.
The Azzam Brigades was designated in the United States as a "terrorist organization" in 2012, and has in the past claimed responsibility for firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon.
The group was formed in 2009 and is believed to have branches in both the Arabian Peninsula and Lebanon, with the latter named after Ziad al-Jarrah, a Lebanese citizen who participated in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The Lebanon branch has sporadically fired rockets into northern Israel since 2009 and the Brigades also claimed responsibility for the 2010 bombing of a Japanese oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
It is named for the Palestinian mentor of the late al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. He was killed in a 1989 bomb blast.
According to Islamist sites, Majid was revealed to be the leader of the Brigades in 2012.
On Wednesday, a Twitter account belonging to Sirajeddin Zreikat, a member of the Sunni Muslim extremist group, appeared to have been suspended.
Zreikat had claimed responsibility in the group's name for the November 19 double bombing at the Iranian embassy in Beirut.
The attack came amid rising tension in Lebanon over the role of the Iran-backed Hizbullah in the war in neighboring Syria.
In 2009, Lebanese authorities sentenced Majid in absentia to life in prison for belonging to a different extremist group, the al-Qaida-inspired Fatah al-Islam.
That organization was involved in heavy fighting with the Lebanese army in 2007 in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon, in which more than 400 people were killed, including 168 soldiers.
After the fighting, many members of the group took refuge in the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian camp, which is believed to house numerous Islamist extremists.
Prominent Fatah leader Munir al-Maqdah said that al-Majed lef Ain el-Helweh in mid-2012 for Syria.
“He left the camp with a group and went to Syria,” Maqdah added.
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