Report: Turkey Suspects Lebanese, Palestinian Monitoring Defected Syrian Cleric

Turkish authorities suspected on Saturday that two men are allegedly monitoring the movement of defected Syrian cleric Sheikh Abdul Jalil al-Saeed, who revealed recently that Syria was planning on assassinating Mufti of Tripoli and the North Sheikh Malek al-Shaar.

According to Future television a Lebanese and a Palestinian are suspected of monitoring Saeed's movement in Istanbul.

Saeed had revealed recently in a taped interview that Ibrahim Hamad, a captain in the Syrian intelligence, had been collecting information about the northern Mufti.

"Hamad came to Beirut many times and met with several figures at the office of (Hizbullah) MP Nawwaf Moussawi,” he said.

"I have been informed by people in the Syrian Dar al-Fatwa that he (Hamad) was going to personally supervise the assassination operation from the Bekaa region,” Saeed added, explaining that al-Shaar was supposed to be targeted near the residence of the Bekaa Mufti Mohammed Khalil al-Mayss.

He also said that two members of the Lebanese Dar al-Fatwa are involved in this assassination attempt.

However, Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Moussawi slammed on Thursday the claims by Saeed, saying: “they are lies and baseless.”

Al-Shaar had revealed last week details surrounding the alleged death threats he had received and which made him decide to prolong his stay in Europe.

In an interview on Future TV, al-Shaar said: “I have received several phone calls and I even met with army officers who advised me to be cautious as my movements are being watched”.

Saeed revealed that the assassination plot against al-Shaar is linked to the case of former Minister Michel Samaha.

Samaha was arrested in August on charges of forming a criminal gang aimed at carrying out attacks in Lebanon at Syria's behest.

Syrian security chief Ali Mamlouk and another Syrian official identified as Colonel Adnan were also charged in the case.