Lebanese Army commandos capture escaped Islamist fighter

Military prosecutor files complaints against prison officers

BEIRUT: The Islamist fugitive who fled Lebanon’s highest-security prison was captured by the Lebanese Army on Wednesday, just over 24 hours after staging a remarkable escape. Taha Hajj Suleiman, who had been detained at Roumieh prison, east of Beirut, had been on the run following a pre-dawn breakout on Tuesday. A manhunt involving helicopters was immediately launched, eventually tracking Suleiman down. He was found hiding in bushes in the woods of Bsalim Village, a senior Internal Security Force (ISF) source told The Daily Star.

“Between 10 and 11 this morning, the prisoner was detained in the Bsalim region, not far from Roumieh Prison,” said the source. The mission was carried out with the help of Lebanese Army commandos, and the prisoner had been taken away for military intelligence interrogation, the source added.

Military Prosecutor Judge Sakr Sakr filed complaints Wednesday against four officers and four ISF members for neglect over the escape, the National News Agency reported. The defendants were questioned by investigating magistrate Judge Maroun Zakhour and warrants were issued against the men, including a major and a first lieutenant.

Security forces had combed large areas of Beirut in a bid to find Suleiman – a Syrian national and member of the Islamist group Fatah al-Islam – who had been described by security officials as “dangerous.” He is being held on terrorism charges.

Suleiman was the only inmate to successfully flee the prison after eight members of Fatah al-Islam sawed off the bars of their cells and used tied-together blankets to scale down the walls of their block. Once outside the building, the men stood on each other’s shoulders in an attempt to breach the prison’s perimeter wall, according to security officials.

Prison guards were scrambled, detaining seven of the would-be escapees, but Suleiman managed to get over the fence and into the woods surrounding Roumieh.

Speculation abounds as to how Suleiman could have escaped with seeming ease from Lebanon’s highest-security institution. Media reports on Wednesday alleged that the nature of the breakout pointed to external coordination. Head of the ISF, Ashraf Rifi, was quick to rule out any conspiracy.

He said the escape was “due to neglect on the part of prison security” but said he didn’t believe the incident “had anything to do with collaboration inside or outside the prison.”

President Michel Sleiman, meeting with visitors on Wednesday, said any negligence facilitating the escape must be exposed and called for stricter future measures to prevent a repeat of the incident.

Lebanese Forces bloc MP Joseph Maalouf, speaking on Free Lebanon radio on Wednesday, labelled the timing of the escape “questionable.”

Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud has come under criticism for failing to reform Lebanon’s ailing penal system. In response to the incident on Tuesday, Baroud said many complaints of “incompetence within prisons” had been transferred to the Lebanese judiciary.

In remarks published by As-Safir on Wednesday, Baroud claimed he had a “clear conscience” over the incident.

Baroud moved swiftly following the escape to order the arrest of several prison officials after an initial ministry inquiry cited “deficiencies that might have facilitated the escape.”

He ordered the instant relocation of 60 staff from prisons across the country and promised that a further 300 ISF posts would change in the coming two months.

Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar applauded Baroud’s decision to transfer security officers.

“Issues such as Fatah al-Islam and terrorism are issues the whole government agrees on and strongly seeks a solution to … This matter concerns the Interior Ministry and not the Justice Ministry,” he said. “I trust Minister Baroud’s judgment and decisions.”

Suleiman’s escape came in the wake of a riot earlier this month at Roumieh when 21 inmates were freed from their cells after a prisoner seized a master key from a security guard. Rioters started fires in the prison.

Baroud refused to be implicated in any breach of penitentiary security. “My conscience is clear. I will let the people hold me responsible for my actions,” he said.

He added that “political motives are behind the criticism,” and stressed he didn’t wish to “present himself as a victim under the banner ‘I’m a target.’”

He warned that if people thought they could use him as a scapegoat for blame, “then they are wrong, since my dignity comes before the ministry.

“I reject being accused of neglect because the truth is opposite of what we’re seeing,” he said. “My honor comes before the [Interior] Ministry and professionalism comes first.”

As-Safir alleged on Wednesday that Roumieh’s Fatah al-Islam residents “receive special attention and benefit from hot water, computers and cell phones.” It raised several questions over the state of the Lebanese prison system and suggested that Roumieh was on the verge of becoming “a state within a state.” Najjar echoed suggestions of preferential treatment, describing prisons in Lebanon resembling “Ali Baba’s cave.”

Suleiman was arrested and charged, along with others, for killing Lebanese troops during the fighting and is suspected of involvement in a spate of bomb attacks across the country.

Fatah al-Islam fought a bloody battle in the summer of 2007 against the Lebanese Army from their stronghold within the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Although the army prevailed, crushing the insurgency after three months, the clashes killed 220 militants, 171 soldiers and 47 Palestinian civilians dead.