Defected Syrian Soldier Held on Suspicion of Plotting Terror Acts

A defected Syrian soldier was arrested Tuesday by State Security agents in the northern region of Akkar on suspicion of plotting “acts of sabotage” inside Lebanon.

“A patrol from the State Security's Qubayyat bureau managed to arrest Syrian national Hussein Mustafa Arab in the Nabaa area in the border region of Wadi Khaled, following investigations and a surveillance operation,” state-run National News Agency reported.

“He is a soldier who defected from the Syrian army and he is suspected of belonging to the Jund al-Sham group,” NNA said, adding that he is also accused of “manufacturing and setting up explosive devices and bombs.”

Several fake Syrian and Lebanese identification documents were found in his possession, the agency said.

The detainee and the seized material will be referred to the relevant judicial authorities for further investigations.

Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, Wadi Khaled has witnessed infiltration by rebel fighters into Syria as well as shelling by Syrian forces on the Lebanese region's towns.

The Lebanese army and the other security agencies have this month arrested several fugitives accused of belonging to the Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades and al-Nusra Front and the Qaida breakaway group Islamic State.

Among those described as “hefty catches” was the Iraqi woman Saja al-Dulaimi, whom the interior minister identified as a divorcee of Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Dulaimi's arrest gave a new momentum to negotiations aimed at securing the release of around 25 Lebanese troops and policemen held by the IS and al-Nusra.

The servicemen were taken hostage during deadly August clashes between the two groups and the Lebanese army in and around the Bekaa border town of Arsal.

Y.R.