Asir Supporters Charged with Attempted Murder of Soldiers

The Military Prosecutor charged on Thursday several supporters of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir with belonging to a terrorist group and attempting to kill Lebanese soldiers, the National News Agency reported.

The other charges issued by Judge Saqr Saqr against the detainees were gun possession and involvement in terrorist attacks.

Saqr referred the detainees, whose number was not revealed, to the first military examining magistrate.

The army said last Thursday that five suspects were arrested and handed over to the relevant authorities during raids in the southern city of Sidon.

Backed by a surveillance aircraft, the military staged a major search operation in the groves, valleys and forests situated east of Sidon.

The operation was carried out to determine whether there are any “gunmen, weapons hideouts or fugitives” in the area, said the army statement.

The raids came a few days after near-simultaneous attacks on the military in Sidon.

The communique did not mention the names of the arrested suspects but media reports said at least two of them had ties to al-Asir, who has gone into hiding since the deadly gunbattles between his supporters and Lebanese soldiers in Sidon last June.

Lebanese pop idol Fadel Shaker has also disappeared with the 45-year-old bearded cleric.

Both have been charged along with scores of other suspects with forming an armed gang with the aim of committing crimes, undermining the state's authority and harming its prestige.