Plots of Hefty Catch Abbas Unveiled as Army Seizes Rockets, Explosives in Saadiyat, Dibbiyeh

Only a few hours after detained Qaida-linked militant Naim Abbas made his confessions, the army started raiding arms depots in the al-Dibbiyeh and al-Saadiyat areas, where it seized explosives, rockets and fake IDs.

“Abbas is the one who told interrogators about the two (booby-trapped) cars that were seized in (Beirut's) Corniche al-Mazraa and (Bekaa's) Arsal, in addition to a warehouse in al-Saadiyat,” which lies on the coast linking Beirut to Sidon, LBCI television reported.

Quoting military sources, LBCI said troops confiscated explosives and fake IDs in the al-Saadiyat storehouse.

Meanwhile, also following confessions by Abbas, the army raided a depot in the Shouf area of al-Dibbiyeh, seizing “rockets that were supposed to be fired at Dahiyeh during (Hizbullah's) Martyrs Day ceremony in addition to suicide vests,” according to al-Jadeed TV.

LBCI said “fake IDs” were also confiscated at the storehouse.

“The army seized 4 rockets that were prepared for firing towards Beirut at one of al-Dibbiyeh's forests, following the confessions of Naim Abbas,” LBCI added.

Later on Wednesday, state-run National News Agency confirmed that "an army patrol seized in the town of al-Dibbiyeh four rockets that were prepared for firing at Beirut's southern suburbs during the commemoration of (Hizbullah's slain commander) Imad Mughniyeh on February 15, according to the confessions of the detainee Naim Abbas."

Earlier, NNA said the army staged raids in search for a number of fugitives in the al-Saadiyat area.

LBCI television reported “a heavy deployment and army raids in al-Saadiyat in search for fugitives and suspects linked to security dossiers.”

The developments come in the wake of the army's arrest in Beirut of Naim Abbas, a Palestinian leader in the Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades, who has been described as the group's number two man in Lebanon.

Abbas has close ties to Sheikh Omar al-Atrash, a cleric from the Bekaa Valley who was arrested last month, and later charged with detonating bombs and explosive-rigged vehicles, attacking the army in Majdelyoun and al-Awwali bridge areas in the southern city of Sidon and launching rockets on Israel.

Several of the latest bombings in Hizbullah strongholds in Beirut's southern suburbs and the Bekaa have been claimed by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades whose leader, Majed al-Majed, was captured by Lebanese authorities in December and died in custody later.