Report: Mawlawi Fled to Ain el-Hilweh, Preparing Security Plot with Asir

Islamist fugitive Shadi al-Mawlawi reportedly fled Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood in the northern city of Tripoli to take the southern Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp as a refuge to prepare for a security operation in cooperation with wanted Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir.

According to As Safir newspaper published on Tuesday, security agencies are investigating how Mawlawi moved from Bab al-Tabbaneh to the southern city of Sidon without being noticed, estimating that the fugitive was disguising in women clothes.

Preliminary reports say that he arrived in the refugee camp last week, using a fake identification paper and accompanied by a woman and three kids.

However, Fatah commander Munir Maqdah denied the reports, Ad Diyar newspaper reported, stressing that Mawlawi didn't enter Ain el-Hilweh.

Al-Asir had went into hiding following deadly clashes between his supporters and the army near Sidon in June last year.

Media reports said recently that wanted terrorists al-Mawlawi and Osama Mansour have been reportedly injured in the latest battles with the Lebanese army in Tripoli and are hiding among civilians, taking them as human shields.

Al-Mawlawi and Mansour have been charged with belonging to an armed terrorist group in order to stage terrorist acts, and holing up at a Tripoli mosque with the aim of preparing bombs and explosive devices to target Lebanese troops in the area.

Earlier this month, the militia led by the two fugitives clashed with the army in Tripoli and Akkar district. The gunbattles left dozens of fighters, soldiers and civilians dead and injured.

H.K.

G.K.