DNA Samples Confirm Moein Abu Dahr, Adnan Mohammed as Iranian Embassy Suicide Bombers

DNA samples from the father of Moein Abu Dahr and the relatives of Adnan Mohammed confirmed that they are the suicide bombers who targeted the Iranian Embassy in Beirut in an attack that killed at least 23 people.

The army command issued a communique confirming that the test on Adnan Abu Dahr showed that human remains at the scene of the attacks belonged to his son, Mouein.

“The DNA testing was carried out from samples taken from the father of Moein and proved that he is involved in the suicide attack,” General Prosecutor Samir Hammoud told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr also confirmed the reports in comments to the state-run National News Agency.

Later during the day, the NNA reported that the second suspect in the attack was identified as Adnan Moussa Mohammed and his father is in army custody to carry out DNA tests.

Adnan Mohammed is a Palestinian from the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp and a staunch supporter of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir.

After the photograph of Adnan was distributed the army intelligence directorate received several calls identifying him and his father, Moussa, claimed the picture showed his son.

The army did not specify what crimes Mohammed was wanted for.

But on Saturday evening, the army issued a communique confirming that human remains found at the scene of the explosions in Bir Hassan belonged to Adnan Moussa Mohammed.

Mohammed's uncle said in comments to LBCI the family is in a state of “shock,” denouncing the attack.

“We repudiate him,” the uncle said.

LBCI also reported that security forces are pursuing other al-Asir supporters to question them over the involvement in the blasts and other future attacks.

Moein Abu Dahr hails from the southern port city of Sidon and is close to al-Asir, and had warned of "revenge" three days before the Bir Hassan blasts.

Al-Asir's hard-line supporters battled Lebanese soldiers in June.

On Thursday, after the photograph of one of the dangerous wanted men was distributed, Adnan Abu Dahr came to the intelligence directorate and claimed the picture showed his son.

Moein Abu Dahr had promised al-Asir on his page on the social networking website Facebook that he will take revenge.

"They let you down Sheikh, but we will retaliate,” he wrote.

And a day before the Bir Hassan bombings, Abu Dahr took to Facebook to say that heaven “has opened its doors to receive him.”

In a related matter, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant posted a picture of Abu Dahr on Twitter, commenting that he's “the suicide bomber that attacked the Iranian embassy,” without mentioning Beirut in the caption.

Later on Friday evening, the Abu Dahr family “strongly” condemned in a released statement the deadly explosions.

"We are deeply saddened that one of our relatives is accused of being behind the Bir Hassan explosions,” the statement posted on several Sidon-based websites said.

“We condemn this awful crime and we do not have enough words to describe it, offering our condolences to the families of the victims,” the statement added.

Fake identity cards used by the suicide attackers behind the blasts in Beirut's Bir Hassan neighborhood were made public on Thursday.

At least 23 people were killed and more than 145 others were wounded in a twin suicide blast that took place on Tuesday morning near the Iranian Embassy in the neighborhood of Bir Hassan in Beirut's southern suburbs.

A security official said the first suicide attacker was on a motorcycle that carried two kilograms of explosives. He blew himself up at the large black main gate of the Iranian mission, damaging the three-story facility.

Less than two minutes later, the second suicide attacker driving a car rigged with 50 kilograms of explosives struck about 10 meters away, the official said.

An al-Qaida-linked group, the Lebanese Abdullah Azzam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack Tuesday. They said it was payback for the military support that Iran and Hizbullah provide against the mainly Sunni rebels fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Syrian conflict, in its third year, also has become a confrontation between regional powers. It has exacerbated tensions between Lebanon's Sunnis and Shiites as well. The embassy bombing was one of the deadliest in a series of attacks targeting Hizbullah its strongholds in Lebanon in recent months.