.
[Update] I’ve added a comment with breaking news of his “unfortunate” demise below the fold.
The group claimed the responsibility for the recent bombing of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut and is affiliated with Al Qaeda terror. The stolen car in the recent assassination of Muhamad Chatah, was traced to the Palestinian Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp.
Mohamad Chatah had a long career and not only an advisor to Saad Hariri. He was affiliated with the Hariri ‘Future Movement’ political group, although he officially remained an independent figure in Lebanese politics.
For the MSM it’s nice to tie Chatah in with Hariri and the enemy of the state Hezbollah. Nothing but speculation, perhaps the Syrian intelligence of Assad did it?
From local reports I understand there would be a large gathering of the party in the home of Saad Hariri, who is a resident of Saudi Arabia lately. The bomb could have been intended for dozens of other persons like the former PM Fouad Siniora.
○ Saad Hariri in Saudi Arabia to seal $3bn deal with Hollande for arms to Lebanon
○ Saad Hariri and the Saudi Money Riddle
Al-Qaeda-affiliated emir arrested in Lebanon
(Al-Monitor) – Majid bin Mohammad al-Majid, the emir of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in the Levant, was undergoing kidney treatment at the Almakased hospital in Beirut, when he suddenly found himself face to face with the Lebanese army. A security source told Al-Monitor that the al-Qaeda-affiliated emir was arrested after Lebanese military intelligence received information that he was about to leave for an unknown destination.
“The army knew that Majid left his hiding place in Sidon, 40 kilometers [25 miles] south of Beirut, on the evening of the attacks on the army two weeks ago [Dec. 15].” The source was citing the Sidon attacks — which left four attackers and one Lebanese soldier killed after a triple attack on checkpoints around the city — that Al-Monitor reported on in detail.
Shortly after being appointed, Majid posted an audio message addressing Lebanese Shiites in general and Hezbollah and the Amal movement in particular. Later, Majid was said to have moved to Syria, but sources in the Palestinian Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon — where he used to live — denied these claims, insisting that the only time Majid moved from the camp was in mid-December.
What is obvious is that Majid’s arrest will unveil the real role the Abdullah Azzam Brigades played for years, and whether they were part of the global jihad or serving a regional agenda that was aimed at shaking Lebanon’s fragile security.
Salafist leader Ahmad al-Assir and worshippers of the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque in Sidon
A bs story from Saudi Arabia linking a Salafist terrorist Saleh al-Qarawi to Iran and Hezbollah: Online jihadists discuss fate of al Qaeda operative held by Saudi Arabia.
Continued with update below the fold …
Lebanon: Arrested Al Qaeda Leader al-Majid Dies in Cell
How convenient for all parties involved! The knowledge of Majid al-Majid about the Saudi support in Lebanon and Syria would have been very embarrassing. It’s interesting to read the first stories as each one will be biased as to the source of information: Shia faction Hezbollah, Sunni faction March 14 of Saad Hariri, Christian groups or the Gulf states and particularly Saudi Arabia. Early reports say he died in custody in his cell, others say in a military hospital due to kidney malfunction. The latter must be considered the Bin Laden disease.
Al-Qaeda detainee dies in Lebanon hospital
BEIRUT, Lebanon (Daily Star) – Majid al-Majid, the head of an Al-Qaeda offshoot which claimed responsibility for the double suicide bombing outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, died Saturday in Lebanon’s military hospital, a security source told The Daily Star.
Wanted by Riyadh, Washington and Beirut, the Lebanese Army arrested Majid on Dec. 26 in the Mount Lebanon area of Hazmieh. He had arrived to Lebanon to undergo kidney dialysis.
Majid was receiving treatment at the military hospital in Badaro when he passed away, the source said, adding that his health had been in sharp deterioration. Military Prosecutor Judge tasked a coroner to carry out an autopsy on Majid’s body.
A security source said Thursday that Majid’s arrest came as a result of intercepting information both inside and outside the country and that interrogation had been delayed due to Majid’s bad health.
The detainee was on Riyadh’s list of its 85 most-wanted for links to Al-Qaeda whilst officials and private experts in Washington said Majid raised funds in the Gulf for militants fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Majid was the head of the Abdallah Azzam Brigades, an Al-Qaeda offshoot, which claimed responsibility for the Nov. 19 double suicide bombing outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. The attack killed 30 people including an Iranian diplomat. In its claim, the group warned of further attacks in Lebanon unless Hezbollah withdraws its fighters from Syria.
A security source told The Daily Star that the Army will take unprecedented, strict security measures, fearing reprisals by the Abdallah Azzam Brigades over the reported arrest of Majid.
Majid was charged in absentia in Lebanon over involvement in the Nahr al-Bared battle when the Army launched an offensive to root out Islamists in the north Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp in 2007. Over 100 soldiers and 220 militants were killed in the clashes.
Top al-Qaeda commander dies in Lebanese jail
(AP/Ynet News) – Majid al-Majid, leader of Abdullah Azzam Brigades responsible for rocket fire on Israel, dies of kidney failure at secret prison location.
A Lebanese army general says the leader of an al-Qaeda-linked group that has conducted attacks across the Middle East before shifting its focus to Syria’s civil war has died in custody in Lebanon. The general says the detainee, Majid al-Majid, died on Saturday after suffering kidney failure. The general spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
According to Washington, DC-based online newspaper Al-Monitor, al-Majid was arrested while undergoing kidney treatment at a Beirut hospital. On January 3, DNA samples from relatives in Saudi Arabia confirmed that the man in custody was Majid.
Majid’s Sunni Islamist militant organization from Lebanon was aligned with the Syrian rebels in direct opposition to Hezbollah.
Arrested for double suicide car bombing Iranian embassy
Al-Majid, a Saudi citizen was detained in Lebanon late last month and had been held at a secret location. He was arrested in connection with the double suicide bombing in November of the Iranian embassy in Beirut.
Days before his death, Iran asked the Lebanese government for permission to join the investigation due to Majid’s involvement in the bombing of the Islamic republic’s Beirut embassy.
‘Saudi al-Qaeda leader dies in Lebanon hospital’: Sources
TEHRAN, Iran (PressTV) – The group is responsible for the twin bomb attacks against the Iranian Embassy in the Lebanese capital on November 19, 2013. The back-to-back blasts killed at least 25 people, including Iran’s Cultural Attaché to Beirut Hojjatoleslam Ebrahim Ansari, and left more than 160 injured.
Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Saeed Asiri, had previously said that Lebanon should extradite Majed to the kingdom in case his identity is confirmed.
On December 3, Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia was behind the bombings on the Iranian Embassy, saying he had no doubt that the Saudi intelligence agency has close links with the terrorist Abdullah Azzam Brigades.
The group “is a bona fide group that has a Saudi emir and its leadership is directly linked to Saudi intelligence,” Nasrallah stated. Majed, a high-profile terrorist wanted by many countries, had earlier traveled to Syria to pledge allegiance to the notorious al-Nusra Front, which is fighting against the Syrian government.
