05 February 2013
BEIRUT: A Lebanese judge issued arrest warrants in absentia Monday for a top Syrian intelligence official and his aide over their alleged involvement in a terror plot to destabilize Lebanon. Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghayda issued the arrest warrants against Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, head of the Syrian National Security Bureau, and his aide Col. Adnan, whose family name is unknown, in the case of former minister Michel Samaha, who allegedly plotted terrorist attacks in Lebanon at the behest of Syria.
After completing the investigation into the case, Abu Ghayda referred the file to Military Prosecutor Saqr Saqr, judicial sources told The Daily Star.
They said Saqr would examine and make recommendations on the case before Mamlouk is given a military trial after an indictment is issued.
Abu Ghayda had originally set Feb. 4 as the date for questioning Mamlouk. A notice with Abu Ghaydas decision was posted at the entrance to Beiruts Military Tribunal after the judge considered Mamlouks place of residence as unknown.
Saqr had asked Abu Ghayda to question Mamlouk and Adnan, in addition to Bouthaina Shaaban, an adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In August 2012, the governments Deputy Commissioner at the Military Tribunal Judge Sami Sader charged Samaha, a staunch ally of the Syrian regime, along with Mamlouk and Adnan with plotting to assassinate political and religious figures in Lebanon and carry out terrorist attacks.
Samaha was also accused of transferring explosives from Syria to Lebanon and working with foreign intelligence against his country.
Sader also charged the three with creating an armed group aimed at undermining the authority and prestige of the state.
Additionally, the three were accused of planning to incite sectarian clashes through terrorist attacks with explosives that Samaha transported to Lebanon and stored after taking possession of them from Mamlouk and Adnan.
The judicial sources said Abu Ghaydas indictment would include measures against Adnan such as issuing a search warrant, given that his full name is unknown.
A judicial source told The Daily Star that the charges, if proven, could lead to the defendants being sentenced to hard labor or death.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the Oct. 19 assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, head of the police intelligence, in a car bomb in Beiruts district of Ashrafieh could have been linked to his role in uncovering Samahas alleged bombing plot. Hasans intelligence work had led to Samahas arrest.
Copyright The Daily Star 2013.
