Judge issues arrest warrants for two held over Hezbollah explosives
Judge Ghada Abou Alwan interrogated the detainees Haitham Amhaz and Ali al-Kurdi on Thursday in the Hezbollah explosives case and issued two arrest warrants against them, MTV reported.
Alwan also scheduled a hearing in two weeks to notify the remaining defendants in the case before issuing arrest warrants against them as well, the TV network added.
Government Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Claude Ghanem had charged 13 individuals in the case before referring them to Alwan.
The truck, which was stopped at a checkpoint on the main highway linking Beirut with the eastern Bekaa Valley earlier in October, was carrying 780 kilograms of explosives, including 250 kilograms of TNT and 250 kilograms of C-4 plastic explosives, according to judicial officials.
The news of its seizure generated heated public discussion, with many accusing Hezbollah of planning to carry out assassinations of domestic opponents at a time when the group is under increasing pressure to disarm.
Hezbollah later issued a statement acknowledging that the explosives belonged to the group. It said they were intended for use against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. It said it had requested Lebanese authorities return the explosives and release the two people who were detained.
For years, Hezbollah had moved weapons freely in parts of Lebanon. That changed in March, when the Lebanese government declared all military activities by the Iran-backed group “illegal.”
That decision came hours after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, triggering a war that has killed nearly 4,000 people in Lebanon and resulted in Israeli forces occupying a large swath of southern Lebanon. The group fired the rockets two days after Israel and the United States launched a war on Iran, its main backer.
Hezbollah has refused to recognize the government decision outlawing its military wing.
Source: Naharnet
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