An Islamist group warned the Lebanese army on Monday it would pay dearly for the arrest of a suspected Muslim militant.
In a statement, quoted by Reuters, the group, Jamaat an-Nour, also stated it was responsible for planting a bomb at a mosque frequented by a cleric who helped in the arrest. The army defused a bomb on Saturday at a mosque in Sidon, where Muslim clerics last week handed over Badie Hamadeh, a Lebanese man charged with killing three security officers before taking refuge in a Palestinian refugee camp.
In its statement, Jamaat an-Nour alluded to the bomb incident as punishment for a cleric who helped in the arrest of Hamadeh, and warned of retribution against the Lebanese army. "Jamaat an-Nour considers turning brother Badie Hamadeh over...to be treason, and on Saturday night sent its first warning to (Sheikh) Maher Hammoud," it said.
"We warn the Lebanese army and all those implicated in this incident (Hamadeh's arrest) that they will pay dearly for their treachery, deception and baseness." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
