Army Arrests Ain el-Hilweh Terror Fugitive

The army on Thursday announced the arrest of a terror fugitive who was hiding in the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp.

“As a result of a delicate security operation carried out by the Intelligence Directorate, Palestinian terrorist Ali Naim Hmeid, aka Ali Nejmeh, was arrested after being lured from the Ain el-Hilweh camp,” the army said in a statement.

It said the detainee belongs to the group led by notorious Islamist militant Bilal Badr.

An investigation has since got underway under the supervision of the judiciary, the army added.

On Friday, the army arrested an Islamic State group fugitive, Omar al-Bustani, in a similar operation.

By long-standing convention, the Lebanese Army does not enter Palestinian refugee camps, where security is managed by joint committees of Palestinian factions.

Ain el-Hilweh is an impoverished, overcrowded camp near the coastal city of Sidon, and is home to some 61,000 Palestinians, including 6,000 who have fled the war in Syria.