Suspect Held in Kaftoun Crime as Report Says MP was in Nearby Town

The Joint Palestinian Security Force at the al-Beddawi refugee camp has handed over a man suspected of being involved in the Kaftoun crime to the Intelligence Branch of the Internal Security Forces, the National News Agency said on Sunday.

The suspect, Palestinian national Ehab Shahine, had turned himself in at dawn to the Palestinian force following a clash, media reports said.

LBCI TV has reported that fingerprints lifted from the culprits’ car have revealed that they belong to two individuals arrested in the past over terror-related offenses: a Syrian resident of the al-Beddawi camp and a Lebanese resident of the Akkar town of Danbou.

MTV meanwhile reported Sunday that the suspects had links in the past to the jihadist Islamic State group.

It had reported Saturday that MP Nadim Gemayel had been present on the night of the crime in the Koura town of Kfarhata, which neighbors Kaftoun. Media reports said Gemayel was attending a dinner banquet in the town and that he left upon hearing the gunfire.

“Gemayel received phone calls from several political figures, including Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and MP Tony Franjieh,” MTV said.

The incident in Kaftoun left three municipal police guards dead -- Alaa Fares, who is the son of the town’s mayor, George Sarkis and Fadi Sarkis.

The three victims were also supporters of the Syrian Social National Party.

According to reports, the assailants opened fire when the municipal guards asked them why they were roaming the area in a car carrying no registration plates.

The gunmen fled on foot after the incident as the town’s mayor said “weapons, hand grenades and electric wires” were found in the deserted car. Media reports meanwhile said that only a pistol equipped with a silencer was found in the vehicle.