Army Arrests Nusra Commander, Taqwa Association Official

The army on Wednesday arrested a commander of the extremist al-Nusra Front in the Bekaa and an official of the al-Taqwa Islamic Social Association in Beirut's Corniche al-Mazraa.

“Army intelligence agents arrested in Masharii al-Qaa Nidal Sweidan, a Syrian commander of al-Nusra Front and chief of operations in the border area," Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said.

State-run National News Agency said "Syrian national Nidal S. was arrested in Masharii al-Qaa on suspicion of his involvement in security operations in the region.”

Earlier on Wednesday, a security source told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that "until the moment, nothing confirms that Nidal Sweidan is involved in any acts of sabotage and he was arrested in al-Qaa for not carrying identification documents."

Separately, MTV said “al-Taqwa Association official Abou Omeir al-Homsi was arrested in a raid by the army in Corniche al-Mazraa.”

It later reported that “army intelligence agents arrested Omar Jouwaineh for handing (jailed top Qaida-linked militant) Naim Abbas $20,000 from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant."

It was not immediately clear if it was referring to the same person.

For its part, al-Jadeed television said “army intelligence agents arrested O. J. on charges of handing Naim Abbas sums of money from the ISIL to perform terrorist acts."

The association came to the limelight following an attack on Sunni clerics Sheikh Mazen Hariri and Sheikh Maher Fakhran in Beirut's Khandaq al-Ghamiq on March 17, 2013, when around 30 of its members took to the streets in Tariq al-Jedideh and started chanting “The people want the declaration of jihad.”