Police: Jezzine Cell Plotted to Free Asir's Jailed Supporters

Security forces are questioning several suspects who were arrested in the southern district of Jezzine on suspicion of plotting to free Islamist prisoners loyal to Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.

The daily said that the cell was planning to attack the Jezzine prison to free the inmates who were arrested during and after clashes between gunmen loyal to al-Asir and the Lebanese army in June 2013.

Security officials, who were not identified, declined to give details but said police and the army found arms in their possession.

“They are being questioned at the defense ministry” in Yarze, they said.

However, the Jezzine Municipalities Union denied the presence of terrorist cells in the region.

It urged the media to be cautious while publishing such news due to their negative affects on the area's residents and the tourism sector.

Al-Asir went into hiding following the gunbattles with the army, which erupted after his supporters opened fire on a military checkpoint near the cleric's headquarters in the Sidon suburb of Abra.

The attack and the fierce clashes that ensued left around 18 soldiers and more than 20 gunmen dead.

The gunbattles concentrated in the area of the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque where al-Asir was a preacher and nearby buildings in Abra.

The 45-year-old cleric, who supports the overwhelmingly Sunni rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, is nowhere to be found.

G.K.

H.K.