Medic: Detained Saudi Jihadist 'in Poor Health'

An al-Qaida-linked Saudi suspect detained in Lebanon is being held in a military hospital because "he is in poor health", a medical official told Agence France Presse Friday.

Another official familiar with the investigation said the interrogation of Majed al-Majed "has been delayed because he is in poor health," and that the suspect is being "heavily guarded" at the Baabda military hospital near Beirut.

According to the medical source, who had been treating Majed before his arrest without knowing who he was, he suffers from kidney failure and requires regular dialysis.

"On December 27, the hospital where Majed was being treated contacted the Red Cross to arrange his transfer to another hospital," said the source.

But before the suspect arrived at the second facility, "the Lebanese army intelligence intercepted the ambulance and arrested Majed," the source said, adding that neither the hospital nor the ambulance teams had prior knowledge of who Majed was.

Majed is the suspected head of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which claimed responsibility for an attack in November on the Iranian embassy in Beirut, killing 25 people.

According to Islamist websites, Majed was revealed to be the leader of the Brigades in 2012.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades group was designated in the United States in 2012 as a "terrorist organization".

It was formed in 2009 and is believed to have branches in both the Arabian Peninsula and Lebanon.

In claiming the embassy bombing, brigades member Sirajeddin Zreikat warned of more attacks in Lebanon if Hizbullah kept sending troops to support Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In 2009, Lebanon sentenced Majed in absentia to life in prison for belonging to a different extremist group, the al-Qaida-inspired Fatah al-Islam.