Beirut has identified four suspected al-Qaeda operatives and charged them with planning attacks in Lebanon and neighboring Syria
01 Temmuz 2009 Çarşamba 02:32
According to a report released by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI), three of the suspects were charged on Monday by the Lebanese military prosecutor Judge Saker Saker with establishing a clandestine gang connected to the al-Qaeda terror group, while the fourth suspect remains at large.
The judicial officials meanwhile announced the three in custody are of Kuwaiti, Syrian and Tajik nationalities. Under the Lebanese Constitution, they will be handed death sentences should they be convicted of the charges.
The report comes as an al-Qaeda group -- allegedly plotting attacks in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and the Persian Gulf states like Kuwait -- was exposed earlier this month.
Recent acts of violence in Lebanon and Syria have largely been pinned on extremist groups inspired by the al-Qaeda.
The Lebanese security and intelligence agents have accordingly increased security measures and in December 2007 nabbed a total number of 31 al-Qaeda-linked suspects -- who were later indicted on charges of planning attacks in the country.
Furthermore, a conflict involving the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Qaeda-affiliated Fatah al-Islam militants broke out on May 20, 2007 in Nahr al-Bared -- a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon.
The Lebanese Army finally managed take control of the camp on September 2. At least 446 people, including 168 soldiers and 226 militants, were killed in the fighting
According to a report released by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI), three of the suspects were charged on Monday by the Lebanese military prosecutor Judge Saker Saker with establishing a clandestine gang connected to the al-Qaeda terror group, while the fourth suspect remains at large. 
