'Racing Beirut' Player Held over Terrorism-Linked Suspicions

The army intelligence arrested on Wednesday football player Zuhair Murad pending investigation for his suspected involvement in terrorist acts.

"The army arrested in (the al-Metn neighborhood of) Bourj Hammoud Zuhair Murad for suspecting his involvement in terrorist acts," a communique released by the military institution announced on Wednesday evening.

Earlier in the day, al-Jadeed television said the army arrested Murad, who is a member of Racing Beirut football team, and launched an investigation with him.

OTV noted that Murad was arrested following the confessions of detainee Naim Abbas.

Abbas, a top militant and one of the leaders of the Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades, was held last week and he informed the army during his interrogation about a car rigged with more than 100 kilos of explosives which was dismantled in Beirut's Corniche al-Mazraa district.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed earlier in the day responsibility for the deadly double blast that hit the Beirut neighborhood of Bir Hassan on Wednesday morning.

But the army intelligence assured that the arrest of Murad has nothing to do with Wednesday's bombings, according to LBCI television.