Death penalty sought for Qaeda suspects in Lebanon

Judge Samih al-Haj indicted the group of Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians, six of whom have fled Lebanon and the rest have been detained, on charges that carry a death penalty.

The indictment said the men had “formed an armed gang with the purpose of committing crimes against people … undermining state authority and prestige, spying on the military and U.N. peacekeepers, and forging passports”.

Among the accused is a fugitive leader of Fatah al-Islam, the Qaeda-inspired group that battled the Lebanese army in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon in 2007.

Another suspect was accused of carrying out a bomb attack that killed 15 people, including 10 soldiers, in the northern city of Tripoli in 2008. Reuters