Would-be Nasrallah assassins nabbed
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Monday, 10 April 2006: 12.11 CET) – Lebanese authorities arrested nine men suspected of planning an assassination attempt on Hizbollah chief, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, on Monday morning Reuters reports.
A senior security official told the agency that eight of the detainees are Lebanese while the other is a Palestinian.
A security official told Reuters that the suspects were questioned by military intelligence before being transferred to a military magistrate.
An unknown quantity of weapons was seized during the arrests.
"The plot was at an early stage," a security official told Reuters, adding, "We have smoke and we have fire but the details are not clear yet." The official noted that the Lebanese suspects were relatives.
The motive for the assassination plot was not immediately clear.
Nasrallah is involved in the ongoing Lebanese 'national dialogue' with fellow Lebanese leaders, being held at the Lebanese parliament in Beirut. The disarmament of Hizbollah fighters, in keeping with a UN resolution, has been a subject of discussion, although no consensus has been reached.
Security officials said that the suspects planned to assassinate Nasrallah on 28 April while he was attending a session of the dialogue talks.
Reuters reports that Hizbollah headquarters in southern Beirut, where Nasrallah resides, is heavily guarded and that the pro-Syrian leader's movements are severely restricted due to security concerns.
The US considers Hizbollah, which carries out intermittent attacks on northern Israel and the disputed Shebaa Farms area, to be a terrorist organization.
A senior security official told the agency that eight of the detainees are Lebanese while the other is a Palestinian.
A security official told Reuters that the suspects were questioned by military intelligence before being transferred to a military magistrate.
An unknown quantity of weapons was seized during the arrests.
"The plot was at an early stage," a security official told Reuters, adding, "We have smoke and we have fire but the details are not clear yet." The official noted that the Lebanese suspects were relatives.
The motive for the assassination plot was not immediately clear.
Nasrallah is involved in the ongoing Lebanese 'national dialogue' with fellow Lebanese leaders, being held at the Lebanese parliament in Beirut. The disarmament of Hizbollah fighters, in keeping with a UN resolution, has been a subject of discussion, although no consensus has been reached.
Security officials said that the suspects planned to assassinate Nasrallah on 28 April while he was attending a session of the dialogue talks.
Reuters reports that Hizbollah headquarters in southern Beirut, where Nasrallah resides, is heavily guarded and that the pro-Syrian leader's movements are severely restricted due to security concerns.
The US considers Hizbollah, which carries out intermittent attacks on northern Israel and the disputed Shebaa Farms area, to be a terrorist organization.
posted by Marko at 4/10/2006 07:56:00 AM
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