A Lebanese military judge has charged two Lebanese and one Saudi with forming a terrorist network linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, judicial sources said on Tuesday.
Examining magistrate Riad Talih filed the charges against Saudi Ihab Dafaa and Lebanese Mohamad Ramez Sultan and Khaled Omar Minawi, the sources said. The defendants face jail terms of at least seven years if convicted. Dafaa had arrived in Beirut on September 25 and was arrested a few days later together with Sultan, who also has Australian nationality.
The three were accused of trying to set up a "multinational terrorist group to commit crimes, harm state authority and carry out terrorist acts." In addition, Talih asked security authorities to investigate the cases of nineteen other suspects who are not in custody, the sources said. They come from the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Tunisia, as well as Lebanon, AFP reported.
At the outset of this month, Lebanese authorities announced the arrest of the three men on suspicion of links with the al-Qaeda network. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
