(Daily Star-Lebanon/Maariv-Hebrew) Haim Issarovitch - Four Palestinians arrested Saturday in northern Lebanon said they were planning to carry out military attacks against Israeli targets along the Gaza coast, the London-based Al-Hayat reported Thursday. The Palestinians were detained by the Lebanese Army as they attempt to leave the country in a ferryboat packed with weapons and explosives, a high-ranking official said. He said the Palestinians confessed they belonged to Asbat al-Ansar, an Islamist armed group considered a branch of al-Qaeda, based in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near Sidon. They also said a key figure in the group from the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in the north had planned the operation and provided the boat. Asbat al-Ansar leader Abdel-Karim al-Saadi, who has been sentenced to death for murder, is widely believed to be holed up in Ain al-Hilweh, which is controlled by Palestinian armed groups.
2006-01-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive