BEIRUT: Security personnel at Roumieh prison have been detained as part of an ongoing probe into the recent escape by five inmates, four of whom remain at large, all members of Muslim militant groups.
Judge Saqr Saqr, the government’s representative at the Military Tribunal, ordered the detention of two officers and nine guards at the notorious prison complex for “negligence and failure to carry out their duties,” a judicial source told The Daily Star.
The five inmates are all members of militant Muslim groups, the source said.
“Four of the prisoners are members of Fath al-Islam and one, a Kuwaiti, is a member of Al-Qaeda,” the source said, adding that the four Fath al-Islam inmates had all fought the Lebanese Army in the northern Palestinians refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in 2007. The Kuwaiti inmate was jailed for planning to carry out “acts of terror” in Lebanon, the source added.
In a statement late Saturday, the Lebanese Army said it had apprehended Midhat Hasan Khalil, a Jordanian national, in north Lebanon following a wide search operation backed by army helicopters.
The four remaining escapees are Abdullah Saad el-Dine al-Shukri, a Syrian born 1984; Abdel-Aziz Ahmad al-Masri, a Syrian born 1985; Mohammad Abdel-Nasser Abdel-Dusri, a Kuwaiti born 1973 and Abdel-Nasser Said Singer, a Lebanese born 1980, according to a statement released by the Internal Security Forces (ISF) Saturday.
The statement added that a sixth prisoner, Walid Issam Lababidi, a Lebanese born 1980, was caught while trying to escape with the other five inmates.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Saturday that the five prisoners had scaled down one of the buildings of the complex using bed sheets, blended with a group of families who were at the prison visiting loved ones at the time and then exited the compound with the group unnoticed.
A circular with mug shots of the escapees was issued by the ISF Saturday and the agency has urged the public to contact the emergency hotline 112 or to refer to their nearest military post if they spot one or more of the wanted men.
Roumieh, Lebanon’s largest prison facility currently holds around 3,700 inmates, although it was designed for about a quarter that number.
Judge Saqr Saqr, the government’s representative at the Military Tribunal, ordered the detention of two officers and nine guards at the notorious prison complex for “negligence and failure to carry out their duties,” a judicial source told The Daily Star.
The five inmates are all members of militant Muslim groups, the source said.
“Four of the prisoners are members of Fath al-Islam and one, a Kuwaiti, is a member of Al-Qaeda,” the source said, adding that the four Fath al-Islam inmates had all fought the Lebanese Army in the northern Palestinians refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in 2007. The Kuwaiti inmate was jailed for planning to carry out “acts of terror” in Lebanon, the source added.
In a statement late Saturday, the Lebanese Army said it had apprehended Midhat Hasan Khalil, a Jordanian national, in north Lebanon following a wide search operation backed by army helicopters.
The four remaining escapees are Abdullah Saad el-Dine al-Shukri, a Syrian born 1984; Abdel-Aziz Ahmad al-Masri, a Syrian born 1985; Mohammad Abdel-Nasser Abdel-Dusri, a Kuwaiti born 1973 and Abdel-Nasser Said Singer, a Lebanese born 1980, according to a statement released by the Internal Security Forces (ISF) Saturday.
The statement added that a sixth prisoner, Walid Issam Lababidi, a Lebanese born 1980, was caught while trying to escape with the other five inmates.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Saturday that the five prisoners had scaled down one of the buildings of the complex using bed sheets, blended with a group of families who were at the prison visiting loved ones at the time and then exited the compound with the group unnoticed.
A circular with mug shots of the escapees was issued by the ISF Saturday and the agency has urged the public to contact the emergency hotline 112 or to refer to their nearest military post if they spot one or more of the wanted men.
Roumieh, Lebanon’s largest prison facility currently holds around 3,700 inmates, although it was designed for about a quarter that number.
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