Jomaa's Attorney Requests Delay in Client's Interrogation to Submit Pleas

Imad Ahmed Jomaa, a detained member of the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front, did not appear at the Military Court on Tuesday at the request of his attorney, Tareq Shandab, reported LBCI television.

The suspect was supposed to appear before Military Examining Magistrate Imad al-Zein to be interrogated, but Shandab requested a delay in order for him to submit pleas before the court.

Jomaa was arrested on August 2, prompting clashes between the army and Islamist gunmen in the northeastern border town of Arsal.

Nineteen soldiers were killed in the unrest that ended on August 7.

Judicial sources told LBCI that Jomaa had confessed during preliminary investigations that he was undergoing the final phase of training to spark Sunni-Shiite strife through taking over Arsal, which would be used as a base to attack the army and Shiite towns.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged on Thursday 43 Syrians, including Jomaa, for belonging to armed terrorist groups.

They have also been charged with seeking to carry out terrorist attacks, seizing control of Lebanese territories in order to set up their own emirate, killing soldiers and civilians, sabotaging military vehicles, and damaging public and private property.

The suspects may face the death penalty if convicted.

Jomaa hails form the Syrian border town of Qusayr and has confessed upon his arrest to belonging to the al-Qaida-inspired al-Nusra Front.

The terrorist suspect is known to be a prominent figure of armed Islamic organizations, and he led the Fajr al-Islam brigade that fought in al-Qusayr in later in Syria's Qalamoun.

According to a Syrian activist who resides in Arsal, Jomaa worked closely with al-Nusra Front and small military groups of the Syrian opposition, particularly in the Qusayr battles.

Jomaa frequently traveled inside Lebanon's Bekaa region and its plains where he provided support for gunmen in the area, the same source said.

M.T.

S.D.B.