Five Inmates Break out of Roumieh Prison, Among them Fath al-Islam Radicals

Five inmates have escaped from Ward “D” in the Roumeih prison on Saturday, however, two have been detained.

Internal Security Forces said a sixth inmate attempting to flee had been caught inside prison grounds and was under interrogation.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that he issued a warrant to punish all Roumieh prison officials.

Preliminary information said that four Fath al-Islam inmates that fought deadly battles with the Lebanese army in 2007 escaped Roumieh prison.

LBC reported that the Fath al-Islam convicts are Abdullah Saad al-Shukri, Abdel-Aziz al-Masri, Mohammed al-Dusri and Abdel-Nasser Sanger.

The security forces have launched wide search operations by air and land, and troops had surrounded the notorious prison as helicopters flew overhead, the National News Agency said.

Al-Jadeed television reported that the search operations are focusing on 800 meters around the prison because “they haven’t left this perimeter.”

MTV reported that inmate Midhat Khalil escaped the prison from its main entrance by getting aboard the visitors Van then took a taxi to Beirut.

"The Van driver is being interrogated in presence of Mount Lebanon ISF commander," the television channel said.

MTV said that the four Fath al-Islam prisoners broke out wearing security forces clothes.

According to a statement issued by the Internal Security forces: “between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm on Saturday five inmates’ escaped Roumieh prison Ward “D”.”

“The five prisoners had sawed through a fence inside the prison, used sheets to rappel from their ward and then mingled with visitors in civilian clothing and escaped,” the statement said.

The ISF said in its statement that the five prisoners are Midhat Hasan Khalil, a Mauritanian born 1963; Abdullah Saad el-Dine al-Shukri, a Syrian born 1984; Abdel-Aziz Ahmed al-Masri, a Syrian born 1985; Mohammed Abdel-Nasser Abdel-Dusri, a Kuwaiti born 1973 and Abdel-Nasser Said Sanger, a Lebanese born 1980.

The statement added that a sixth prisoner, Walid Issam Lababidi, a Lebanese born 1980, was caught while trying to escape with the other five inmates.

“An investigation by relevant agencies is ongoing in order to take the necessary measures against those who were neglectful,” the statement added.

Earlier, the NNA reported that one of the escaped inmates was a Sudanese national.

Roumieh, the oldest and largest of Lebanon's overcrowded prisons, has witnessed sporadic prison breaks in recent years and escalating riots over the past months as inmates living in dire conditions demand fairer treatment and even general amnesty.

In the summer of 2007, al-Qaida inspired Fatah Al-Islam group led an uprising in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared two years ago.

The fighting killed some 400 people, including 168 soldiers, and deadly clashes also broke out in the nearby northern port city of Tripoli but some of the Islamist leaders escaped despite a 15-week siege by the army at the camp.

The militant group is also accused of being behind twin bus bombings in a Christian suburb northeast of Beirut which left three dead and close to 20 wounded in 2007.