Drug dealer busted in Tyre

BEIRUT: The Internal Security Forces apprehended a wanted Palestinian drug dealer in Tyre, in south Lebanon, Monday, after he had been injured in an exchange of fire with policemen, a security source told The Daily Star.

Hussein Salim al-Zini was rushed to a hospital in the city, where he is being treated under police surveillance.

He was known to police and wanted for illicit drug trafficking.

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Suspected Army shooter arrested in north Lebanon

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Ain al-Hilweh Islamists protest Roumieh raid

SIDON, Lebanon: Masked Islamist gunmen cut off roads leading to two neighborhoods inside the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, in Sidon, to protest against the police crackdown on Islamist inmates at Roumieh Prison Monday, security sources told The Daily Star.

The gunmen, who are led by Palestinian commander Haitham al-Shaabi, fanned out in the streets, blocking access to al-Tawarek and Taamir neighborhoods, after they had received information that a Palestinian prisoner who hails from Ain al-Hilweh had been injured in the raid in Roumieh, the sources said.

However, the Internal Security Forces, which carried out the Roumieh raid, said in a statement that no prisoners were injured during the operation.

Lebanese Army troops posted at the entrances of the sprawling camp, the largest of Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian refugee camps, stepped up security measures in anticipation of possible escalation, thoroughly checking cars and the identity of motorists entering and leaving the settlement.

In parallel, members of Al-Fouhoud (Arabic for panthers), an elite police force, were deployed near the Justice Palace in Sidon.

The sources said similar precautionary security measures were taken around the serail in the town of Jezzine in south Lebanon, which houses a prison where a large number of followers of fugitive Salafi preacher Ahmad al-Assir, are detained.

The morning crackdown in Roumieh came in the aftermath of information that some of the prisoners were connected to the weekend's twin suicide attacks that targeted a cafe in Tripoli's majority Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen, killing 9 and wounding more than 30.

Entry measures for Syrians to go on despite criticism: General Security Chief

BEIRUT: General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim visited the Masnaa crossing between Lebanon and Syria Monday and said the implementation of the new controversial entry measures would go on.

“The measures will continue despite the criticism,” Ibrahim told reporters after a brief tour in the crossing, located on the Damascus Highway in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

The measures requiring entry permits from Syrians, an unprecedented move, went into effect on Jan. 1 upon a decision by the Interior Ministry and General Security.

While none of the major political parties in Lebanon condemned the measures, the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon has repeatedly expressed discontent about them.

Ambassador Ali Abdel-Karim Ali first called the measures “unacceptable” and said the measures did not receive the consent of all Lebanese groups and were not officially decreed by the Cabinet.

In response, Social Affairs Minsiter Rashid Derbas defended the measures, saying all ministers of the Cabinet had announced that they supported a policy that stopped the influx of refugees.

Lebanon currently hosts at least 1,158,000 Syrian refugees according to the UNHCR, while the government says the number is much higher due to the numerous unregistered refugees.

The new entry permits oblige incoming Syrians to state the reason for their entry and stay in Lebanon. Six types of visas were added: tourist, business, student, transit, short stay and medical.

Woman killed in nightclub brawl in Kaslik

BEIRUT: A woman was killed early morning Monday in a dispute that broke out over the right to enter a nightclub in Kaslik, north of Beirut, security sources told the Daily Star.

The victim, identified as Eliane Saftali, 20, was hit in the neck and died on the spot when a person clad in military attire opened fire in her direction, the sources said.

Police started an investigation into the incident as well as a search for the killer, who fled after the shooting.

The sources said the suspect was already known to police for having committed violations in the past.

The incident in Kaslik occurred shortly after a young man succumbed to wounds he had suffered over the weekend in a shooting near a pub in Kfar Debian following a personal dispute.

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Qatar aid for Syrian refugees, Lebanese host families airlifted to Beirut

BEIRUT: Qatar dispatched emergency assistance for Syrian refugees and host communities who had been snowed in by a violent storm that battered Lebanon over three days last week.

Two planes belonging to Qatar’s air force arrived at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport Sunday night, carrying 26 tons of blankets, warm winter clothes, plastic sheeting, tents, and food, and 2 tons of medicines, airport sources told The Daily Star.

The assistance was handed over to Lebanon’s Social Affairs Ministry by Qatari Ambassador Ali Bin Hamad al-Marri and representatives of Qatar’s Foreign Ministry and the Qatari Red Crescent, who were at the airport while the assistance was being unloaded.

Marri said the assistance, which includes fuel for heating, would be distributed to Syrian refugees and their Lebanese hosts in the areas that were hit hard by the snowstorm, including Arsal and Shabaa, and refugee settlements in the north of Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

Distribution of the assistance will begin Monday, as many roads leading to the snowed in areas had been cleared from snow which had blocked them for days.

Social Affairs Ministry representative Hala Helou thanked Qatar for its generous assistance, stressing that “Lebanon was in need of such support and will deliver the assistance to the most vulnerable Syrian refugees and Lebanese citizens in the regions that were isolated by the snow, as quickly as possible.”

Snow storm Zina swept through the Middle East last week, bringing hail and strong winds that caused damage in agriculture fields, ports and electricity installations in Lebanon where the majority of the 1.2 million refugees live in makeshift unheated tents.