Man who Transported Female Would-Be Bombers Referred to Judiciary

A detainee who transported several female suicide bombers in his car inside Lebanon was referred Friday to the relevant judicial authorities over his involvement in multiple terror offenses.

“The Intelligence Directorate referred the detainee Mohammed Ali Ibrahim al-Atrash this morning to the competent judicial authorities,” the army said in a statement.

It noted that Atrash was arrested on charges of “ties to terrorist groups, driving booby-trapped cars to Arsal, transporting niqab-wearing women trained to stage suicide attacks, and transferring material that can be used in the manufacturing of explosive devices.”

The plots that the detainee had been involved in were aimed at “pushing the country to a security chaos,” the statement said.

“During interrogation, he revealed information related to the bomb attack that rocked (the northern Bekaa town of) al-Nabi Othman on March 16, 2014 and the bombing that targeted an army post in Arsal on March 19, 2014,” the army added.

Meanwhile, al-Manar television said al-Atrash's interrogation is still underway to determine if he has “more information about plots targeted against Lebanon's security.”

The TV network added that the detainee confessed to transferring female would-be suicide bombers with the aim of targeting Shiite Ashura gatherings in 2013 before the plots were foiled.

It also noted that he is “a brother of the terrorist Omar al-Atrash.”

On February 12, the army intercepted a booby-trapped vehicle carrying three women near the Bekaa border town of Arsal. The Army Command said the vehicle had entered Lebanon from Syria's Yabrud region.

The driver, Joumana Hmeid, was remanded in custody and is still in prison until this moment, while the other two women -- Hala Rayed and Khadijeh Audeh -- were released a few days later.

LBCI television said at the time that the women confessed to plotting "a triple bombing during which the car and two suicide bombers were supposed to blow up."

Arsal lies 12 kilometers from the border with Syria and has been used as a conduit for weapons and rebels to enter Syria, while also serving as a refuge for people fleeing the conflict that erupted in 2011.

The Lebanese army has several times seized cars loaded with arms, ammunition and explosives in the town and its outskirts.

Several high-profile terror suspects have been arrested over their involvement in a wave of deadly bombings that rocked Lebanon in the past two years.

Y.R.