Lebanese Army Confirms Arrest of Five "Terrorists"

Source: Al-Manar TV, 10-11-2008
A few days after the footage of the confessions delivered by the Fatah al-Islam members detained in Syria over planning the car-bomb attack that killed 17 people in Damascus in September, Lebanese security forces were seeking to close the network's file, arresting more of those involved in the terrorist bombings through coordination with Palestinian factions.
The Lebanese Army confirmed on Monday the arrest of five people for "terrorist acts" in Tripoli (Northern Lebanon) and Sidon (Southern Lebanon), Beddawi and Ain al-Hilweh camps. It also called on other "terrorists" to surrender.
On Sunday, one of the militant group's heads, Mohamad al-Doukhi, was detained by the Lebanese Army in a successful military operation in the Palestinian Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp. Al-Doukhi, who's known as al-Jarrah, is accused of executing explosions in North Lebanon and cooperating with Fatah al-Islam. According to well-informed sources, a force from Fatah entered the house of al-Doukhi and handed him over to the intelligence unit of the Lebanese army.
Jarrah's arrest came just hours after Fatah conducted its biggest military showing in Ain al-Hilweh since 1991 on the fourth anniversary of the death of the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Jarrah's arrest raised expectations for the imminent arrest of the new head of Fatah al-Islam, Abu Mohammad Awad. Awad, known as the "Prince of Al-Qaeda" has been linked to two deadly blasts in Tripoli and has been named as a potential successor to Shaker Abssi's leadership of Fatah al-Islam. Palestinian authorities have reportedly asked Awad to leave the camp, but he has not done so because of concerns that he would not be able to escape Lebanon without being captured.
Earlier, Khaled al-Itter, known by the alias "Abul Abed," was arrested in Tripoli after appearing in the Fatah al-Islam video confessions aired on Syrian television. Itter is said to have been involved in meetings between Fatah al-Islam's senior members after the group was forced out of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in 2007 after months of heavy fighting with the Lebanese Army.
Meanwhile, Lebanese daily As-Safir reported that the army closed the Fatah al-Islam file in Beddawi camp after Sheikh Hamza Qassem surrendered to the Palestinian forces before being handed over to the army in front of the Al-Quds Mosque in Tripoli.
According to the daily, Army Commander General Jean Kahwaji, Head of Army Intelligence Edmond Fadel, and his representative, Captain Abbas Ibrahim, directly oversaw the two operations in Ain al-Hilweh and Beddawi in coordination with Palestinian forces.