
The organizers of the mutiny at the Qobbeh prison have freed all hostages, the state-run National News Agency reported Monday afternoon.
Several vehicles were seen entering the facility to transfer a number of inmates to the Roumieh prison on Beirut's outskirts.
Security officials said that seven people were taken hostage in the rioting – five Internal Security Forces personnel and two prison workers.
"After several hours of negotiations between authorities and the inmates, the warders at Qobbeh prison were released," a security official told Agence France Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He said one of the security guards at the prison in the northern city of Tripoli was taken to hospital suffering from slight wounds after being beaten by the inmates.
Earlier Monday inmates started their mutiny "to demand better conditions and reduced sentences," a security official told AFP.
The main road leading to the overcrowded prison inside the city limits was sealed off and two ambulances were seen entering the facility, according to an Agence France Presse reporter at the scene.
Rioting broke out at the same prison in January 2009 with inmates also seizing jailers to demand better conditions.
Qobbeh is the largest prison in northern Lebanon and houses 600 inmates.(Naharnet-AFP)
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