Arrest Warrant Issued against Naim Abbas for Belonging to Armed Terrorist Group

An arrest warrant was issued on Wednesday against Naim Abbas, a top official in the al-Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades, on charges of belonging to an armed terrorist group, reported the National News Agency.

It said that Military Tribunal Judge Imad al-Zein issued the warrant against him for his links to terror suspect Jamal Daftardar and for seeking to carry out terrorist activities in Lebanon.

Abbas was also charged with forging identification papers.

His interrogation was postponed to next week to allow Abbas to appoint a lawyer.

Abbas, a Palestinian described as Abdullah Azzam Brigades' number two man in Lebanon, is already in custody.

Daftardar, who was arrested in the western Bekaa region on January 15, has been charged with belonging to the Ziad al-Jarrah Battalion, which is part of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades.

On Monday,the military prosecutor charged 21 suspects, including Abbas, for belonging to an armed terrorist network.

The charges issued against them by State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr also include transporting booby-trapped vehicles from Syria to Lebanon.

Abbas was also charged with involvement in two bombings that have recently rocked the Haret Hreik district of Beirut's southern suburbs.

He was arrested by the Lebanese army in the Beirut neighborhood of Corniche al-Mazraa on February 12.

Several of the latest bombings in Hizbullah strongholds in Beirut's southern suburbs and the Bekaa valley have been claimed by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades whose leader, Majed al-Majed, was captured by Lebanese authorities in December and died in custody later.