General Prosecutor Visits Roumieh Prison, Says Trials to Kick Off in February

General Prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi announced on Saturday that the trials for the Fatah al-Islam inmates will kick off in the first two weeks of February 2013.

He pointed out during a tour in the facility that the construction work at the new courtroom at Roumieh prison will end soon, Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported.

Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel inaugurated in October the courtroom at Roumieh prison to speed up the trials for the Islamist inmates.

Fatah al-Islam battled the Lebanese army in 2007 in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon.

The fighting killed some 400 people, including 168 soldiers, and deadly clashes also broke out in the nearby port city of Tripoli. Some Islamist leaders escaped despite a 15-week army siege of the camp.

Roumieh, the oldest and largest of Lebanon's overcrowded prisons, has witnessed sporadic prison breaks in recent years and escalating riots over the past months as inmates living in poor conditions demand better treatment.