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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (72630)	9/22/2004 4:40:54 PM
From: KLP	Respond to of 793836

Breaking: Lebanon Captures Country's Top Al-Qaida Operative, Alleges He Plotted Suicide Bombings and Recruited Insurgents for Iraq By Hussein Dakroub Associated Press Writer Published: Sep 22, 2004 ap.tbo.com BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Lebanon announced the arrest of the country's top al-Qaida operative and said Wednesday that he and another Lebanese suspect plotted suicide attacks on Western embassies and recruited insurgents to fight in Iraq. Senior security officials said the two, who were arrested Friday with eight accomplices, also planned to assassinate Western diplomats and attack Lebanese security and judicial targets. At least one of the suspects allegedly had contact with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant whose Tawhid and Jihad group beheaded two American hostages in Iraq this week. Lebanese officials said the arrests were testimony to its cooperation in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. They thanked Syria - the key power broker in Lebanon - and Italy for their cooperation in breaking up the alleged plot. Interior Minister Elias Murr identified the two key suspects as Ahmed Salim Mikati and Ismail Mohammed al-Khatib. He said the accomplices included Lebanese and Palestinians. Prosecutor-General Adnan Addoum told reporters al-Khatib was "the head of al-Qaida organization in Lebanon." Al-Khatib, Murr said, "is an al-Qaida operative ... his role was to recruit fundamentalist youth to carry out operations against coalition forces in Iraq." The group, the minister said, is "the first network linked to al-Qaida organization to be smashed in Lebanon." The prosecutor-general alleged Mikati was trying to establish al-Qaida cells in Lebanon and had contacts with al-Zarqawi with the aim of recruiting fighters to go to Iraq. One recruit was a Lebanese who was killed in Iraq on Sept. 17, officials said. The two leaders and their accomplices planned simultaneous bombings of the Italian and Ukrainian embassies in Beirut. Both countries are part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. The suspects allegedly plotted a suicide bomb attack on the Italian Embassy, the officials said. They said explosives had been seized. An Interior Ministry statement said the suspects planned to pack a car with 660 pounds of TNT and blow up the Italian Embassy in the Lebanese capital, an area often packed with tourists and sidewalk cafes. The officials said the suspects also planned to assassinate employees in Western embassies in Lebanon and wanted to attack Lebanese security and judicial targets. Addoum described Mikati as "one of the most dangerous people wanted in Lebanon" and said he was also behind crimes in Lebanon. The prosecutor referred to the attack on a McDonald's restaurant in Beirut in April 2003, as well as attacks on U.S. and British interests last year. Mikati has been condemned to death in absentia by a Lebanese military court. In 2002-03, a series of bombs exploded in Tripoli and Beirut outside American franchises, such as McDonald's and KFC. The attacks, which wounded five people, were seen as a response to Washington's policies on Israel and Iraq. Several people have been convicted in the attacks. Addoum said he also had "unconfirmed information" that Mikati may have had a role in the slaying last year of an American missionary nurse who was shot at a clinic in the southern city of Sidon. Mikati was known to be hiding in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh on the outskirts of Sidon. The camp is notorious for its lawlessness and as a refuge for fugitives and Islamic extremists. Lebanese authorities have no presence in the camps and officials did not say how they arrested al-Khatib. Addoum said Mikati belonged to a group that clashed with the Lebanese army in the northern region of Dinniyah in 1999. More than 40 people, including 11 soldiers, were killed. Last year, Lebanese police arrested members of a terrorist network that planned attacks on the U.S. Embassy and other Western targets in Lebanon, as well as the assassination of the U.S. ambassador in Beirut. AP-ES-09-22-04 1616EDT