16 Fatah al-Islam Suspects Released

A group of suspects arrested for having ties with the Fatah al-Islam terrorist network was released on Tuesday and several more will be set free in the next few days to reach their number to 16, An Nahar newspaper reported.

The daily said that three Lebanese – Khodr Merhi, Samir Daoud and Bilal al-Masri – arrived in the southern port city of Tripoli at around 8:30 pm Tuesday accompanied by their lawyer Osama Shaaban.

Shaaban said that the men were released on a LL300,000 bail each. He added that other Lebanese, including Khaled al-Mahmoud, Mustafa Dandan, Mohammed Seif and Hussein al-Ahmed will remain in custody over other charges.

Two more Lebanese Othman Turkmani and Ali Hussein will arrive in Tripoli on Wednesday after the procedures of their release are completed.

Other suspects, including Palestinians Rajab Hussein, Jihad Attar, Mustafa Abdel Aziz, Ghassan al-Oulay, Louay al-Masri and Obeida Tawiyyeh, and Algerian Dajjana al-Ibrahimi will be referred to the General Security Department on Thursday to confirm if they have any other charges against them. If not they will be released the same day.

The suspects have been held without prosecution since 2007 when the Lebanese army clashed with Fatah al-Islam militants in the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared.

Pan-Arab daily al-Hayat said 108 suspects, including Saudi nationals and people from other nationalities, are still in custody.