4 Suspects Referred to Judiciary for Connection to Abduction of Pharmacist al-Khatib

The Army Intelligence Bureau referred on Saturday four suspects to the judiciary over their links to the abduction of a pharmacist in the Zahle district in the Bekaa region in September, reported al-Mustaqbal daily on Sunday.

Lebanese nationals Hussein Ahmed Saleh and his brothers Dureid and Abdul Amir and Palestinian Mohammed Ahmed Omar were arrested on October 19 and 22 on charges of kidnapping Wissam al-Khatib and later releasing him on ransom.

Investigations with the suspects revealed that they had previously kidnapped Lebanese national Ahmed Mansour.

Several arrest warrants had been issued against them in the past.

They include charges of theft and dealing with forged currency.

A partial sum of the ransom obtained in al-Khatib's abduction was found in their possession, as well as a number of weapons.

Al-Khatib was abducted on September 29 as he was opening his pharmacy that lies on the main road of the town of Karak in the eastern district of Zahle.

He was released in his hometown of Kfarzabad in the central Bekaa valley on October 15.