Asiri: Al-Majed's Family Submitted Request for Repatriation of His Body

The family of Saudi national Majed al-Majed, the chief of a Qaida-linked group who died Saturday in Lebanon, has submitted a request to the Saudi foreign ministry for the repatriation of his body, Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri announced Sunday.

"The kingdom has not asked for an autopsy," Asiri added in an interview with LBCI television.

In remarks to MTV, the Saudi ambassador said his country has “full confidence” in the Lebanese judiciary, noting that it did not “reject or accept” anything that had to do with al-Majed's interrogation prior to his death.

“We will ask Lebanese authorities to hand over al-Majed's body to his family after they finish their procedures,” he added.

Asked about the Saudi grant to the Lebanese army, Asiri said: “The kingdom has not asked Lebanon for anything in return for the $3 billion donation to the army and we're betting on the Lebanese state and its institutions.”

“The kingdom does not support militias to usurp the political decisions of any country and the grant to the Lebanese army has not been suspended after al-Majed's death,” he noted.

Earlier, caretaker Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi said that the Lebanese authorities would bury al-Majed, the chief of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, in Lebanon if his family or Riyadh refused to repatriate his body.

In remarks to pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Sunday, Qortbawi said that as with any other foreigner, usually a dead person's family or country ask to receive the body.

But if they rejected to do so, “then we will make the appropriate arrangements to bury him in Lebanon,” he said.

“The request to receive the body is made by the embassy of the involved country to the Lebanese foreign ministry, which transfers it to the justice ministry,” Qortbawi told the newspaper.

“The justice ministry in its turn will send the request to the public prosecutor's office, which is the main decision-maker in that regard,” he added.

In remarks to two Saudi newspapers published on Sunday, Asiri had said the repatriation of al-Majed's corpse “depends on the joint cooperation between the Saudi and Lebanese authorities.”

Such a move also required the opinion of his family to know what measures to take, he said.

The Lebanese army announced in a terse communique on Saturday that al-Majed died while undergoing treatment at the central military hospital after his health deteriorated. It did not elaborate.

But sources have said that al-Majed died after suffering kidney failure.

Qortbawi told LBCI that the forensic expert confirmed his death was caused by health problems.

Asiri denied that the Lebanese authorities were able to extract important information from al-Majed before his death.

Security sources also told LBCI that al-Majed wasn't questioned and no other suspects were seized during his arrest

Al-Majed was detained in December and had been held at a secret location.

He was the purported commander of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades — a militant group with al-Qaida links — and one of the 85 most-wanted individuals in Saudi Arabia.

Reports first surfaced about his arrest early this week. Security officials eventually confirmed that they had a suspect in custody, but said they were not certain of his identity.

On Friday, the Lebanese confirmed his identity, following a DNA test.

The brigades have claimed responsibility for attacks throughout the region, including the 2010 bombing of a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf and several rocket strikes from Lebanon into Israel.

The most recent attack claimed by the group was the deadly twin suicide bombing in November that targeted the Iranian embassy in Beirut's southern suburbs.