Sunday, 1 February 2015

Mawlawi still in Ain al-Hilweh: report


BEIRUT: Fugitive terror suspect Shadi Mawlawi is still in Ain al-Hilweh camp despite reports to the contrary, according to his recently detained wife, Al-Hayat newspaper said Sunday.


The pan-Arab daily said the Lebanese security forces caught Mawlawi’s wife and her four-year-old son while they were on their way back to Tripoli from Sidon’s Palestinian refugee camp, the country's largest.


Al-Hayat quoted “judicial sources” as saying the woman confirmed that Mawlawi has remained inside the camp, contradicting statements last week about him having fled to avoid an Army crackdown.


Last month, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk claimed Mawlawi had joined militants in the outskirts of Arsal. The Islamist himself later confirmed the news via his Twitter account, saying he had left Ain al-Hilweh to avoid causing trouble to the camp’s residents.


However, Arsal Mayor Ali Hujeiri told Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa in comments published Sunday that the rumors about Mawlawi’s escape to Arsal or its outskirts were not based on any strong evidence.


“Arsal refuses to be a pathway or residence for fugitives,” Hujeiri said.


The mayor argued that the Army’s strong presence in the town - both in terms of troops and intelligence agents - made it impossible for such infiltrations to happen, especially given Mawlawi is one of the country's most wanted men.


Mawlawi is believed to have been hiding in Ain al-Hilweh since he fled the northern city of Tripoli when the Army launched a security crackdown on Islamist militants last year.


Lebanon’s judiciary has charged him with operating a terrorist group with his partner-in-crime Osama Mansour.


He is wanted for his alleged links to the perpetrators of a Jan. 10 double suicide bombing in Jabal Mohsen districtthat killed at least nine people and wounded more than 30, and also over his connection to a series of suicide bombing plots last year that were foiled by the Army.



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