organization:internal security forces

» Reports that 18 Palestinians, 4 Israelis Killed on Sunday
May 6, 2019 12:47 AM - IMEMC News
▻https://imemc.org/article/reports-that-18-palestinians-4-israelis-killed-on-sunday

Palestinian and Israeli media sources are reporting that up to 18 Palestinians and 4 Israelis have been killed on Sunday, as Israeli forces escalated their bombardment of the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian resistance groups fired more rockets into Israel.
(...)
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Abdel Rahim Mustafa Taha Al-Madhoun and Hani Hamdan Abu Sha’ar , 37, were killed by Israeli missiles in the northern Gaza Strip.

Four civilians, including a pregnant woman and her two children, were killed in an overnight raid on the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. They were identified as: Abdullah Abdul Rahim Al Madhoun, 22, Fadi Ragheb Badran, 31, and Shahida Amani Al-Madhoun (33 years old), who was killed along with her unborn baby – she was nine months pregnant.

In addition to the three killed, eight others were reportedly injured in the Israeli airstrike, which targeted Al-Faraj Sheikh Zayed in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.

Two Palestinian civilians were reportedly killed in the shelling of Rafah. They were identified as Musa Muammar, 24, and Ali Abdul Jawad, 51 years old . Three people were seriously injured in that same airstrike, which targeted a residential building in the city of Rafah.

The Israeli airforce reportedly targeted the home of the Director General of the Internal Security Forces in Gaza, Major General Tawfiq Abu Naim in Nuseirat central Gaza Strip.

Two apartments were destroyed in Tower No. 10 in the Sheikh Zayed Towers in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Ministry of Health also announced that two citizens were martyred in a bombardment targeting agricultural land behind Ibrahim al-Maqadma Mosque in Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Two Palestinians were killed in that airstrike, they were identified as Mohammad Abdul Nabi Abu Armaneh, 30, and Mahmoud Samir Abu Armanah, 27.

Both were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir Al-Balah .

Israeli airstrikes destroyed the internal security building inside the governor’s palace west of Gaza City, following the destruction of another house belonging to the Mashtah family in central Gaza and a house belonging to the Abu Qamar family in al-Sina’a Street in Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in the west of Gaza City. (...)

#Palestine_assassinée

23 Palestinians, Including Infant & 12-Year Old, Killed by Israeli Airstrikes
May 6, 2019 12:47 AM IMEMC News

Palestinians killed (confirmed) :
May 5, 2019

Maria Ahmad al-Ghazali, 4 months
Ahmad Ramadan al-Ghazali, 31 (Maria’s father)
Eman Abdullah Mousa Usrof al-Ghazali, 30 (Maria’s mother)
Abdul-Rahim Mustafa Taha al-Madhoun, 61
Abdul-Rahman Talal Atiyya Abu al-Jedian, 12
Eyad Abdullah al-Sharihi, 34
Mohammad Abdul Nabi Abu Armaneh, 30
Mahmoud Samir Abu Armanah, 27
Mousa Moammar, 24
Ali Ahmad Abdul-Jawad, 51
Hani Hamdan Abu Sha’ar, 37 (Rafah)
Abdullah Abdul Rahim al-Madhoun, 22
Fadi Ragheb Badran, 31
Amani al-Madhoun (Abu al-Omarein), 33/Ayman al-Madhoun(her fetus), northern Gaza
Abdullah Nofal Abu al-Ata, 21
Bilal Mohammad al-Banna, 23
Hamed al-Khodari, 34
Mahmoud Sobhi Issa, 26
Fawzi Abdul-Halim Bawadi, 24

Women In ISIS: Prison Study Reveals Face Of Female Jihadists
▻https://www.worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/women-in-isis-prison-study-reveals-face-of-female-jihadists

https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2014/12/26/18/21-Isis2-AFPGetty-v2.jpg

“BEIRUT – Few women have ever gained access to Block B of Beirut’s notorious Roumieh prison. This is where Lebanon holds radicalized criminals. It is also a place where suicide bombings have allegedly been planned, and has been called an “operations room” for the so-called Islamic State by Lebanon’s interior minister. So when Maya and Nancy Yamout first began interviewing convicted jihadists in the prison, the Lebanese sisters aroused both confusion and suspicion among guards and prisoners alike.

The Yamouts’ interest began with a university project, but it took the support of the former minister of justice to get them inside Roumieh. It was unheard-of for two young women, even professionals, to attempt such a project. The sisters are forensic social workers, which means they tackle issues relating to law and legal systems, such as recommendations about mental status, child custody or neglect.

“It was strange for ISF [Internal Security Forces] to see us in prison … [we] were asked, ‘Why do you want to do this? Go pick another topic,’” Maya says. Even the ISF guards who helped them showed no interest in their interviews.

Seven years on, after a Master’s thesis about The Role of Forensic Social Work in Terrorism and its impact on society, the pair have become prison regulars. Apart from lawyers and family members, the sisters are the only civilians the Block B prisoners meet. They regularly interview more than 70 inmates – about 10% of the block’s total population – from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Turkey, Russia and Sudan. Roughly half are said to have been de-radicalized, and are finishing their prison time. Prisons are key recruiting centers for radicalization, putting Maya and Nancy into a potential cauldron of violent extremism.”

Tout dans cette affaire est franchement farfelu. Entre autre le fait qu’on croyait que ce cousin de Bachar était en prison en attendant d’être jugé pour meurtre. Assad cousin accused of killing military officer led charge on kidnapping Gadhafi’s son
▻http://www.albawaba.com/news/assad-cousin-accused-killing-military-officer-led-charge-kidnapping-gadhaf

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s son, Hannibal, sources said Sunday.

The sources told The Daily Star a mob headed by Suleiman Assad kidnapped Hannibal in Syria and handed him over to an armed group in Lebanon.

They said Hannibal was held for a few days near the eastern city of Baalbek before locals became aware of the kidnapping, which eventually compelled the abductors to release him.

In a video broadcast on Lebanese TV Friday, Hannibal was seen appealing for more information concerning the 1978 disappearance of Lebanese cleric Sheikh Musa al-Sadr.

He was later handed over to the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch in Beirut through unidentified intermediaries.

Comment interpréter les protestations nées de la crise des ordures à Beyrouth ?
Dans ce texte, le journaliste Moe Ali Nayel tente de concilier une analyse en termes transclassistes avec les discours de haine de classe et de haine confessionnelle tenus par différents groupes de l’élite, y compris les organisateurs du mouvement Vous puez.
La question est de savoir si jeunesse turbulente qui semble tenir le haut du pavé ces derniers jours est téléguidée par une élite réactionnaire qui tente de reprendre le contrôle des événements et de défendre un régime corrompu en décrédibilisant le mouvement social par la violence et le confessionnalisme ; s’il exprime une tentative de prise du pouvoir par l’alliance aounistes-Hezbollah, dans un cadre régional marqué par l’opposition en Syrie entre Arabis Saoudite et Iran (vision du 14 mars) ; ou bien si cette jeunesse exprime une revendication authentique et représente dès lors la pointe avancée et active d’un mouvement social transclassiste - ce qui pose alors la question de l’encadrement politique de ce mouvement. La comparaison avec les premières manifestations tunsiennes ou égyptiennes étant alors tentante, avec tous les scénarios noirs qui en ont résulté.
On notera que l’interprétation de Moe Ali Nayel est proche de celle défendue tous ces jours derniers par la journaliste Scarlett Haddad dans l’Orient Le Jour ou Angry Arab.

Quick Thoughts : Moe Ali Nayel on Lebanon’s Garbage Crisis and Protest Movement
▻http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/22501/quick-thoughts_moe-ali-nayel-on-lebanon%E2%80%99s-garbage-

The “You Stink” campaign’s calls for protests, which began in late July 2015, created space for those from a different social class than those who created the campaign. Since the first protest, youths from marginalized and poverty-stricken areas continued what they had previously been doing alone, without any social media campaigns. These youths do not generally function in the orbit of so-called civil society organizations but have been protesting on their own initiative since last summer’s severe water and power cuts. This summer, their protests escalated in reaction to the garbage crisis, and their proximity to the downtown area made it possible for them to join the demonstration called for by the “You Stink” campaign. While burning trash and blocking the streets leading to downtown Beirut during the first protest, these youths exclaimed, “We are with you, but this is our way of protesting.” It was then and there that they simultaneously expressed their anger toward the government’s security measures, power cuts, and water shortages.

[...]

To put it simply, the protest that sparked violence against state violence was not an act of “thuggery” by “saboteurs” who were told to do so by Amal movement leader and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri. People who allege such dynamics do not recognize the daily economic abuse the majority of Lebanese have been enduring for years. It was a whole bouquet of angry Lebanese who found unity and struck back against a state that has been failing them in all aspects, and a state security apparatus that has been particularly brutal in the year since Mashnuq became interior minister. The most marginalized youth, those from Dawra, Burj Hammoud, Khandaqal-Ghami’, Sabra, Tariq Jdideh, and Shiyyah, were those who struck back with all the vengeance accumulated in their bitter souls against state authority. These are the victims of the same social order that has their brothers languishing in jails without trial for simply smoking a joint, or being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Two young men I spoke with told me, “We are on the street, jobless, and with no place to go. We pop pills to forget the shit we live in.” The scooter they had purchased on credit was confiscated by the government because they could not afford to register it, yet they needed it to work and earn money. These disenfranchised young men see the law being used to punish them for being poor. All this while a small ruling class cruises around town in its fifty-thousand-dollar SUVs, drives in convoys with tinted windows, running over, beating up, and sometimes killing anyone who stands in its way. This latter group is given state security protection and legal immunity. One group of angry teenage boys were rounded up two weeks ago and brutally beaten up by the Internal Security Forces (ISF), only to be told the next day that it was a case of mistaken identity. They weren’t even given an apology.

Thus, on the night of 22 August, and as a response to this violence and neglect, an unusual sense of solidarity exploded and a revolutionary spirit reached a climax that manifested itself in the large numbers on the street the next day. The trajectory of the protest thus far is one of inclusion. It is bringing together different strata of Lebanese society in an unusual way to confront an exploitative economic and political system.
[...]

Since we are affected by the region, we must realize that this movement could fail and could even open a path to military rule. However, there seems to be a consensus building among grassroots protesters that the street will be occupied until this corrupt ruling class falls. All that seems to matter on the street right now is to shatter the status quo that has long held Lebanon and its people prisoner.

If we can call this an uprising, then it is important to look at the dynamics on the ground: the street and the forces that reclaimed it. Many Lebanese at this particular moment are breaking away from the confines of their social-sectarian boxes. To understand the core of this protest movement, one ought to be where the leading sentiment of this rebellion exists. It is a mix of anger and vengeance by jobless, impoverished, socially alienated youth from different sects; LGBT individuals and activists who have been subject to violence and harassment by a patriarchal state; a variety of grassroots leftist movements; feminist activists and networks that have become increasingly active and visible in recent years; young mothers and fathers who struggle to provide an adequate life for their children.

Lebanon’s youth has followed one uprising after another in other Arab countries, recognized its possibilities, and yearned for real change. So far, this campaign appears to be the one and only opportunity that has—thus far—managed to unite us outside the political straightjacket of the March 14 versus March 8 political blocks, demanding the downfall of their politics. It is precisely this sentiment, this sort of anger, that we need to focus so as to further develop, and thus deliver a blow to the status quo.

L’avocat d’un Libanais détenu à Prague parmi les Tchèques enlevés au Liban
▻http://fr.metrotime.be/2015/07/20/news/lavocat-dun-libanais-detenu-a-prague-parmi-les-tcheques-enleves-au-liba

L’avocat d’un Libanais détenu à Prague figure parmi les cinq Tchèques portés disparus au Liban pour des motifs encore inconnus, a affirmé lundi le représentant légal de la famille du détenu. « Nous connaissons très bien l’équipe tchèque portée disparue », a affirmé Kamal Mohsen al-Haf, qui est le neveu d’Ali Taan Fayyad, en détention provisoire depuis mars 2014 en République tchèque. « Parmi eux, figure l’avocat d’Ali qui est venu au Liban quatre ou cinq fois et que nous avons rencontré ici. »

« Il y avait aussi deux journalistes tchèques, un traducteur et le frère d’Ali, Saëb Taan Fayyad, qui les conduisait dans sa voiture personnelle », a-t-il ajouté, affirmant qu’il ignorait l’identité du cinquième Tchèque.

Les cinq Tchèques, ainsi que leur chauffeur, ont disparu vendredi soir, et leur voiture a été retrouvée dans la région de Kefraya, dans la plaine de la Békaa (est). Plusieurs services de sécurité ont affirmé qu’ils ont bien été enlevés et que des appareils photos professionnels et de l’équipement vidéo ont été retrouvés dans la voiture.

D’après M. Haf, le détenu Ali Taan Fayyad, « a été arrêté par les autorités tchèques sur demande des Américains qui l’accusent de ‘complot contre les Etats-Unis’ et demandent son extradition », a poursuivi l’avocat. Il a réfuté les informations de presse faisant état de liens entre son oncle et le Hezbollah chiite, puissant parti libanais armé classé sur la liste des « organisations terroristes » par Washington.

Le dernier enlèvement de taille au Liban remonte à 2011 lorsque sept cyclistes estoniens avaient été retenus pendant quatre mois pour des raisons inconnues dans la Békaa avant d’être libérés vraisemblablement en échange d’une somme d’argent.

C’est bien de rappeler l’affaire des cyclistes estoniens, mais puisque le paragraphe qui précéde évoque le Hezbollah, il faudrait tout de même indiquer que les estoniens avaient été enlevés par des extrémistes sunnites :

▻http://m.naharnet.com/stories/en/38222-death-sentence-ordered-against-26-suspects-linked-to-estonian-abdu

The military tribunal issued the death sentence on Thursday against 26 individuals for their involvement in the 2011 abduction of the seven Estonian cyclists.

The tribunal had charged 29 suspects for being involved in the crime, as well as a number of others committed in Lebanon over the past year.

Besides their involvement in the abduction, the suspects were charged with forming a crime gang, undermining the authority of the state, being associated with the Fatah al-Islam militant group, using unauthorized weapons, killing security forces member Rashed Sabri, and attacking members of the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau.

They have also been found guilty of armed robbery and forging Lebanese passports and identification cards.

In addition, they have been charged with bombing stores that sell liquor and vandalizing Christian monuments.

Et à l’époque, comme l’avait remarqué Stratfor (correspondances fuitées par Wikileaks), il y avait déjà eu beaucoup de rumeurs et de fadaises tentant d’impliquer les Syriens et le Hezbollah :
▻https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/90/90263_re-fwd-ct-fwd-g3-lebanon-estonia-7-estonians-abducted-in.html

I also think we had hordes of rumors and general bullshit over suspect hostage holders that ranged from Syrians to Hezbollah.

A Who’s Who: The Kingpins of the “Islamist Floor” in Roumieh Prison
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/who%E2%80%99s-who-kingpins-islamist-floor%E2%80%9D-roumieh-prison

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/haytham-2015-roumiya.gif

Members of the Internal Security Forces monitor the situation in Roumieh prison on January 12, 2015 as security forces aim to dismantle Islamist cells inside the infamous prison. Al-Akhbar/Haitham Moussawi Members of the Internal Security Forces monitor the situation in Roumieh prison on January 12, 2015 as security forces aim to dismantle Islamist cells inside the infamous prison. Al-Akhbar/Haitham Moussawi

In light of the Internal Security Forces’ raid on Roumieh prison on Monday, which authorities say was aimed at finding those responsible for two suicide bombing that struck #Tripoli’s Jabal Mohsen neighborhood on Saturday, Al-Akhbar has complied a basic profile of the main influential leaders of various Islamist (...)

#Lebanon #Abu_Obeida #Abu_Salim_Taha #Abu_Tarab #Articles #Beirut #Hossam_al-Sabbagh #Jamal_Daftardar #Naeem_Abbas #Tariq_Jidedeh

Police raid Lebanon’s Roumieh Prison in crackdown on Islamists
►http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2015/Jan-12/283785-isf-elite-unit-carries-out-operation-inside-roumieh-prisons-isl

An elite force from the Internal Security Forces launched an operation against Islamist prisoners inside the notorious Roumieh Prison, a security source told The Daily Star Monday.

In comments to a local TV station, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said a security plan inside the detention facility’s bloc B - known to house a concentration of high-profile Islamist detainees - had begun.

Machnouk told Al-Jadeed that the crackdown came in the aftermath of information that some of the prisoners were connected to the weekend’s twin suicide attacks that targeted a cafe in Tripoli’s majority Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen. The suicide bombings killed at least 9 and wounded more than 30.

Report: Islamists Seeking to Exchange Captive Security Personnel with Roumieh Inmates
▻http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/142372-report-islamists-seeking-to-exchange-captive-security-personnel-wit

The fate of at least 35 soldiers and policemen, who were held captive by Islamist gunmen in the northeastern border town of Arsal, remains unknown after contacts were lost with them.

According to As Safir newspaper published on Friday, armed men who retreated to Syria from the northeastern border town of Arsal after intensified clashes with the Lebanese army have taken hostage more than 35 soldiers and policemen in an attempt to exchange them for Islamist prisoners, who are held at Roumieh prison’s Bloc B.

On Thursday, a delegation from the Muslim Scholars Committee tasked with mediating with jihadist gunmen in Arsal announced that it has lost contact with militants who have taken army and Internal Security Forces personnel captive.

But al-Nusra Front announced later that the soldiers and policemen who are still in captivity have a “special status that will be revealed later.”

Brother kills sister over “shameful” text message in South #Lebanon
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/brother-kills-sister-over-shameful-text-message-south-lebanon

A Lebanese man shot his sister dead after discovering a text message on her phone that “indicated she had done something shameful,” police said Monday. The crime took place on Saturday in the southern town of Zifta, near Nabatieh, according to a statement posted to the website of the Internal Security Forces. The 24-year old brother, identified only by his initials Z.A., originally claimed that he shot his 32-year-old sister by mistake, but later admitted to killing her after becoming angry by a text message he saw on her phone. read more

#honor_killing

#Syrian teenager killed in #Lebanon roof collapse
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syrian-teenager-killed-lebanon-roof-collapse

A Syrian teenager was killed when the roof of a house he was helping to restore collapsed above him, police said Wednesday, in Lebanon’s latest #construction_site #worker #death. The young worker, born in 1997, was helping restore a building in the Lebanese mountain town of Qortaba, the Internal Security Forces said in a tweet. No other details were given. The death comes one week after another Syrian worker was killed and three injured when a building they working on in Beirut partially collapsed. read more

#hazard

Foiled terrorist attack on hospitals in #Dahiyeh
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/foiled-terrorist-attack-hospitals-dahiyeh

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/tahtah-%281%29_1.jpg

Members of the #Internal_Security_Forces stop a car passing through Beirut’s southern suburbs. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) Members of the Internal Security Forces stop a car passing through Beirut’s southern suburbs. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah)

The Resistance and the security forces on Monday foiled a terrorist attack targeting hospitals in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs. The operation prevented the aftershocks of the Iraqi crisis from reaching #Lebanon. However, the threat does not stop at the expected tragic effects of such an act, but involved the political masterminding that took such a decision.

Firas Choufi

read (...)

#Abdullah_Azzam_Brigades #Articles #Burj_al_Barajneh_camp #Hermel #Hezbollah #Hospital_Rasoul_al_Azam #Iraq #ISIS #Lebanon #Palestinian #Qalamoun #syria

Brothers strangle sister to death in North #Lebanon “honor killing”
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/brothers-strangle-sister-death-north-lebanon-honor-killing

Lebanese police have arrested two teenage brothers suspected of strangling their sister to death in an “honor killing,” the Internal Security Forces said in a statement Friday. The body of the 24-year-old Syrian woman, identified by her first name Diala, was discovered Thursday near a school in the northern Lebanon town of Dedde, the report said. The victim’s “two brothers strangled her to death for having violated the family’s code of honor,” the statement said. read more

#Akkar #domestic_violence #honor_killings #Koura

Lebanese police arrest two serial rapists
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanese-police-arrest-two-serial-rapists

Lebanese authorities arrested two men suspected of raping more than 60 women, the Internal Security Forces said. In a statement posted online, the ISF said that the two men, aged about 34 and 22, lured their victims into their cars by offering them rides. Instead, they took uninhabited routes where they raped and robbed the women at gunpoint. Authorities found about 20 purses and an assault rifle after raiding one of the men’s homes in the Mount #Lebanon town of Aramoun. The statement said the man confessed to raping at least 50 women. read more

#rape

New charges added against Tripoli militia members
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/19588

The commissioner at the Military Court, Judge Saqr Saqr added 10 new charges Tuesday against suspects involved in the clashes that rocked the northern Lebanese of Tripoli recently. The men were accused of forming armed groups that instigated terror acts and shootings within the city. A source from the Internal Security Forces told Al-Akhbar that four of the accused ten are currently in custody. Moreover, on Monday, military Judge Fadi Sawan called for death penalties against 32 people who were involved in the Tripoli events. read more

#ISF #Top_News #Tripoli_militants

#Ashraf_Rifi’s new type of justice
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/ashraf-rifi%E2%80%99s-new-type-justice

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/Tahtah-%285%29.jpg

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi while he was still head of the Internal Security Forces. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi while he was still head of the Internal Security Forces. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah)

It requires real boldness to do what General Ashraf Rifi did. He jumped at the chance to head the Ministry of Justice, and them immediately issued arrest warrants against those who loved him, befriended him, believed in him and sacrificed themselves for him. Rifi’s motto at this stage is “Not for the national interest, but for myself I sacrifice my own!”

Ghassan Saoud

read (...)

#Lebanon #Articles #Bab_al-Tabbaneh #Fouad_Siniora #Jabal_Mohsen #Mohammed_Kabbara #Najib_Mikati #Tripoli

Rifi : #Tripoli's new strong-man
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/rifi-tripolis-new-strong-man

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/tahtah_12.jpg

Minister of Justice, #Ashraf_Rifi (R), while he was head of the Internal Security Forces. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) Minister of Justice, Ashraf Rifi (R), while he was head of the Internal Security Forces. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah)

The Ministry of Justice, like the Internal Security Forces (ISF), is firmly in Ashraf Rifi’s grip. His heavy-handed actions appeal to the people of Tripoli, who have been frustrated by politicians’ empty promises of big projects for the city that don’t materialize.

Ghassan Saoud

read (...)

#Lebanon #Articles #Bab_al-Tabbaneh #Future_Movement #Mohammed_al-Safadi #Mohammed_Kabbara #Najib_Mikati #Rashid_Karami #Salafi #Samir_al-Jisr

#Lebanon: Embassy Suicide Bombers Are Graduates of the Assir School
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanon-embassy-suicide-bombers-are-graduates-assir-school

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/2125411790553331.jpg

A few hours after the #Iran_Embassy bombing, the Internal Security Forces (ISF) removed security checkpoints at the entrance of the commercial market in #Saida, prohibiting the entry of all cars. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) A few hours after the Iran embassy bombing, the Internal Security Forces (ISF) removed security checkpoints at the entrance of the commercial market in Saida, prohibiting the entry of all cars. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah)

DNA tests reveal that the two suicide bombers behind the attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut resided in South #Lebanon and were followers of Salafi cleric #Ahmad_al-Assir.

Amal Khalil

read (...)

#Articles #Zahrani

Report : ISF Intelligence Bureau Detains Sheikh over Tripoli Bombings
▻http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/95332-report-isf-intelligence-bureau-detains-sheikh-over-tripoli-bombings

Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau raided the house of 40-year-old Sheikh Ahmed Gharib in Minyeh neighborhood in the northern city of Tripoli over links to the blasts that rocked the city, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Saturday.

According to the report, Gharib was detained after security agencies seized at his residence military maps for the city of Tripoli and explosives.

« المعلومات » يوقف شيخاً من حركة التوحيد
▻http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/189524

عزّز هذه النقمة قيام قوة من فرع المعلومات في الشمال بدهم منزل الشيخ أحمد الغريب (٤٠ عاماً) في منطقة المنية وتوقيفه. وذكرت المعلومات الأمنية أنه ضُبطت في منزل الشيخ الموقوف خرائط عسكرية لمدينة طرابلس وكمية من المتفجرات، مشيرة إلى أنّ توقيفه جاء على خلفية التفجيرين اللذين شهدتهما مدينة طرابلس أمس. وعلمت «الأخبار» أنّ الشيخ الغريب اقتيد إلى مركز فرع المعلومات في بيروت ليلاً بدلاً من إبقائه في مركز طرابلس. في مقابل ذلك، علمت «الأخبار» أنّ الشيخ الغريب كان يقصد سوريا كثيراً في الآونة الأخيرة، علماً بأنّه مُكلّف من قبل رئيس مجلس قيادة «حركة التوحيد الإسلامي» الشيخ هاشم منقارة بمتابعة أحد الملفات العالقة مع النظام السوري. إزاء ذلك، استنكرت أوساط التوحيد توقيف الغريب، مبدية تخوّفها من تلفيق التُّهم وفبركة ملف أمني ضده لغايات مشبوهة. وحول السلاح الذي ضُبط، أكّدت مصادر مقرّبة من الموقوف أنّها لا تتعدى السلاح الفردي الموجود في أي منزل في الشمال، إضافة إلى «قنبلتين يدويتين تحوّلتا بنظر المغرضين إلى كمية من المتفجرات». وإذ وضعت المصادر نفسها توقيف الشيخ في خانة الافتراء، كشفت عن «حملة تحريض شُنّت ضده في الآونة الأخيرة روّجت زوراً أنّه عميل للنظام السوري». والغريب يتولى إدارة العلاقات العامة والسياسية لدى الشيخ منقارة منذ أكثر من ١٢ عاماً.

Aazaz Hostage Relative Held over Alleged Links to Kidnappers of Turks
▻http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/93896-aazaz-hostage-relative-held-over-alleged-links-to-kidnappers-of-turk

Mohammed Saleh, a relative of one of the Aazaz abductees, was arrested on Sunday on charges of having links to the kidnappers of the two Turkish pilots.

“The (Internal Security Forces’) Intelligence Bureau managed to identify all the kidnappers of the two Turks and it arrested Mohammed Saleh on suspicion that he’s involved in the operation,” Future TV reported.

Earlier on Sunday, al-Jadeed television said Saleh was arrested after authorities “intercepted phone calls proving his links to the abductors of the Turks.”

Au Liban, urbanisme et toponymie enrôlés au service de la territorialisation politique - ici à Tripoli
New public park named after martyr Wissam al-Hasan | News , Local News | THE DAILY STAR
▻http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2013/Jun-06/219607-new-public-park-named-after-martyr-wissam-al-hasan.ashx#axzz2VQ

New public park named after martyr Wissam al-Hasan
June 06, 2013 01:35 AM
By Antoine Amrieh
The Daily Star
The park, with dozens of citrus trees and date palms and 60 varieties of flowers, provides a much-needed green space for the city.
The park, with dozens of citrus trees and date palms and 60 varieties of flowers, provides a much-needed green space for the city.
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TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Tripoli’s municipality inaugurated Wednesday a public park named after the late Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, as the former head of the Internal Security Forces said progress was being made in the investigation into the assassination. Speaking during the event, held on the occasion of World Environment Day, retired Gen. Ashraf Rifi said that the investigation into Hasan’s case had achieved significant progress.

“I know most of [the results reached] ... those who committed the crime are professionals, but the investigators are also professionals and the criminal will brought to justice,” he added.

Hasan, who headed the ISF Information Branch, was killed in a car blast in Beirut last October.

Touching on the deteriorating security situation in Tripoli, Rifi said the state and Army should protect the people of Lebanon’s second city.

“The Lebanese state, represented by the Army and Internal Security Forces along with civil institutions, should strive to guarantee the safety of [Tripoli’s] people,” Rifi said.

Relative calm prevailed in Tripoli Wednesday after six were killed and 41 wounded in clashes between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The city has seen similar rounds of violence, which has killed dozens of people since Syria’s uprising began in March 2011.

“Be confident that there is an international decision in place to protect the country from the repercussions of the conflicts in the region and we Lebanese should work relentlessly to protect this country,” Rifi said.

The more-than-18,000-square-meter park in Hasan’s name was hailed as a much-needed boost for a city that is suffering from violence as well as environmental degradation.

Jalal Halwani, the head of the Parks and Environment Department of Tripoli’s municipality, spoke of a sad state of affairs in a city “which in 1932 was a leader in supplying fresh water to its residents; and today, its underground sources of water are saline and polluted.”

“It was one of the cleanest cities, and now it has become dirty due to a lack of environmental awareness,” he said.

“But despite the gloomy situation of the environment and the security in Tripoli, we decided to inaugurate a park today to create hope and out of our appreciation [of Hasan],” he said.

Halwani added that the municipality of Tripoli had chosen to name the public garden after Hasan, who the city’s residents admired and considered one of their own.

Protesters blocked from reaching French Embassy |
@GeorgesABDALLA

THE DAILY STAR

▻http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2013/Apr-11/213388-protesters-blocked-from-reaching-french-embassy.ashx#axzz2Q9Mer

Riot police blocked the street leading to the French Embassy in Beirut Thursday to prevent supporters of Leftist militant George Abdallah from nearing the site.

Members of the Internal Security Forces closed off the Damascus road in both directions as a precautionary measure after pro-Abdallah activists called for a massive rally.

The decision angered many of the 61-year-old prisoner’s friends and supporters who gathered outside the French Embassy last Thursday, and warned that they would escalate their action if Lebanese officials fail to demand Abdallah’s release.

Last week, the French judiciary further delayed Abdallah’s release, arguing that he should spend a minimum of one more year in probation before parole can be admissible.

Tripoli Sheikh Shot Down Inciting Peace
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/tripoli-sheikh-shot-down-inciting-peace

It was just before sunset. The area was extremely tense following news of the assassination in Beirut of Wissam al-Hassan, head of the Internal Security Forces’ information branch. Around 80 gunmen, supporters of the Future Movement or allied Islamist groups, gathered about 500 meters away from the headquarters of the Islamic Tawheed Movement. The gunmen prepared to attack the headquarters, as is common when the security and political situation in Lebanon and Tripoli reaches boiling point.

Sheikh Asmar approached the scene unaccompanied. He spoke to the men calmly, maintaining a demeanor familiar to anyone who had attended his Friday sermons or religious classes. “What you are doing is wrong,” he was heard telling them. “Who do you want to kill? Don’t you know that it is impermissible for a Muslim to shed another Muslim’s blood?”

The men did not reply, instead, they encircled him. It’s likely that Sheikh Asmar didn’t expect a response, given that the highly-charged political and sectarian climate deafens people to all voices of reason. He repeated his appeal, but was cut short by one of the gunmen who fired a bullet into his head, killing him instantly.

Questions mesurées et intéressantes de Elias Muhanna (auteur du blog Qifa Nabki) : Three Reasons Why Syria’s Man in Lebanon Was Arrested
►http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/lebanese-minister-michel-samaha.html

The likelihood that a figure with Samaha’s profile (and connections) could be unceremoniously tossed in the back of paddy wagon without a shred of evidence is very slim. Leaks suggest that the Internal Security Forces (ISF), had gathered substantial evidence of Samaha’s involvement in the alleged plot including telecoms, video and audio surveillance, and witness testimony. If the evidence is thin, there are going to be major consequences.

On the other hand, there is something implausible about the story. Even if one were to assume that the alleged plot existed and that Samaha had knowledge of it, it seems highly unlikely that he would have been involved on an operational level.

Qifa Nabki commence à aborder les répercussions sur la Résistance (sous l’angle politicien de la survie du gouvernement Mikati, alors que ça risque d’être infiniment plus grave au niveau de la légitimité du Hezbollah lui-même) :

With the arrest of Samaha, Prime Minister Mikati has significantly gone out on a limb. If Hezbollah decides to demand Samaha’s release on pain of the government’s collapse, Mikati will have few cards to play. On the one hand, he will find it politically impossible to go against the ISF, given that Samaha is being accused of involvement in a plot to sow strife in Sunni areas. Mikati, who has long been painted by the Future Movement (Lebanon’s main Sunni party, currently sitting in opposition) as a fig leaf for Syria and Iran’s allies, is eager to maintain his bonafides as a leader in the Sunni community. Being seen as kowtowing to Hezbollah would be political suicide for Mikati less than a year before the next parliamentary elections.

Lebanon: Hashish Growers and the Government Face Off
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanon-hashish-growers-and-government-face

The farmers insist on confronting any such attempt, and the security forces are “determined” to destroy the cannabis crop.

While the security forces continue with their preparations – which include communicating with the owners of agricultural tractors as well as coordinating with the leadership of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) – hashish growers are adamant that they will “protect their livelihood.”

Fighting the coming invasion is the farmers’ last resort after the state deserted them by “abandoning any attempt to address agricultural problems, support traditional crops, and compensate losses resulting from natural disasters or any downturn in agricultural production in light of the Syrian crisis,” according to one farmer.

Where Do The Children Play?
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/where-do-children-play

General Ashraf Rifi, director of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), has issued orders to combat the trend of child beggars and street vendors, upon the instructions of Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Marwan Charbel.

Rifi ordered police precincts to be strict, to arrest the children and place them in suitable social institutions. But the problem lies in the difficulty of turning theory into practical action.

A security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the main obstacle hindering the police’s task is seeing the process through to completion.

“Security forces began arresting the beggars, but found nowhere to put them,” he said. “There is no place that can accommodate even a small number, let alone all of them.”