Middle East News
Lebanese army recaptures escapee Al Qaeda-linked terrorist
Aug 19, 2009, 11:33 GMT
Beirut - The Lebanese army recaptured Taha al-Hajj Suleiman, a Syrian national and a member of the al Qaeda-linked Fatah al-Islam group, Wednesday - the day after he escaped from a Lebanese jail, police said.
Suleiman, who was engaged in fierce battles with the Lebanese army in the Palestinian camp of Nahr-al-Bared in northern Lebanon in 2007, managed to flee the Roumieh jail, 20 kilometres northeast of Beirut, early Tuesday.
'We captured Taha Suleiman on Wednesday morning in the woods in Bsalim near Roumieh,'the police said.
Tuesday's incident, in which seven other inmates from Fatah al-Islam also tried but failed to escape, prompted Interior Minister Ziad Baroud to order the arrest of several prison officials after a probe found 'deficiencies that might have facilitated the escape,' his office said.
The minister also ordered that 360 internal security force officers be sacked from their jobs at the country's 21 prisons after saying he had received numerous complaints about their performance inside the jails.
The eight Fatah al-Islam members sawed the window bars and used blankets as ropes to descend from the second floor of the jail.
Fatah al-Islam is a terrorist organization that fought against the Lebanese army in the refugee camp of Nahr-al-Bared. The three-month battle killed 220 militants and 171 soldiers as well as 47 civilians, mostly Palestinians.
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