Report: Shaaban Detained Shortly at Beirut Airport over Samaha-Mamlouk Case

The General Security detained on Friday the Syrian president's media adviser Buthaina Shaaban at the Rafik Hariri international Airport against the backdrop of the Mamlouk-Samaha case, al-Liwaa daily reported Saturday.

The General Security detained Shaaban for nearly an hour upon arrival at the airport at 7:00 am, but was later allowed to catch her flight heading to Dubai when no judicial order was found against her in terrorism case.

Shaaban was said to be involved in the case of former Information Minister Michel Samaha, charged with plotting terrorist attacks in Lebanon.

The ISF’s Information Branch had forwarded a report in October including Shaaban’s name to the military prosecutor’s office, which in turn referred it to the military investigative judge.

The file included the analysis of phone conversations between Shaaban and Samaha made during the latter's presence in Damascus, reports said.

Lebanese judicial authorities have charged Samaha and Syrian security chief Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk with forming a group to commit terrorist crimes in Lebanon.

The two were also charged with plotting to assassinate political and religious figures.

According to judicial sources, General Mamlouk is suspected of forming a group to provoke sectarian killings and terrorist acts using explosives, which were transported and stored by Samaha.