Lebanon detains wanted Islamist

BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities have arrested a man suspected of being a key operative in an Al-Qaeda-inspired militant group, the army said on Friday.

A Palestinian security official told AFP that the suspect is a member of the Fatah al-Islam group which fought a fierce battle with the army in 2007, and was responsible for funding the group.

"We arrested a big fish in a raid in Beirut late on Thursday, and that's all I can say," the military spokesman told AFP, asking not to be identified.

But the Palestinian official identified the suspect as Munir Mezian, who had been arrested by the Lebanese army four years ago and jailed for 18 months for attacking soldiers.

Mezian was tasked with "providing financial funds and weapons" for Fatah al-Islam and was "among the first group (of militants) who set up" the Islamist organization, said the Palestinian official, who also declined to be named.

He said Mezian is in his 30s and is also known as Abu al-Waleed. He used to live in the Palestinian Beddawi refugee camp in northern Lebanon but fled about a year and a half ago to live in Beirut with his mother.

Mezian "could have information about other Fatah al-Islam militants" wanted by the Lebanese authorities, the Palestinian official said.

Earlier, Lebanese media reported that the man arrested was suspected of being a leading figure in Fatah al-Islam and of plotting future attacks.

"The suspect was on the state's wanted list and is a member of Fatah al-Islam," the Arabic-language daily An-Nahar said.

Newspapers said the army had also seized equipment during Thursday's raid on a house in Beirut.

In 2007, Fatah al-Islam fought fierce battles with the army at Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

The fighting killed 400 people, including 168 soldiers, and displaced some 30,000 refugees from the camp, which was leveled in the weeks-long conflict.

Fatah al-Islam has also been linked to deadly bombings targeting UN peacekeepers in the south and civilian buses.

By long-standing convention, the army does not enter Lebanon's impoverished refugee camps, home to an estimated 250,000 Palestinians.