Berri main target of Azzam Brigades terror attacks

Berri main target of Azzam Brigades terror attacks
Fri Feb 28, 2014 16:28:53

The Al-Qaeda affiliated Abdullah Azzam Brigades was planning a suicide attack targeting Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, according to reports published Friday in local dailies As-Safir and Al-Akhbar.

According to the reports, Mahmoud Abu Aalfa, a member of the terrorist group who is currently in custody, told interrogators that he had been assigned with carrying out the attack.

As-Safir quoted a senior Lebanese official as saying that Abu Aalfa claimed that a number of individuals had been tasked with monitoring all the entrances to Berri’s headquarters in the Beirut neighborhood of Ain al-Tineh, as well as certain places frequented by the Speaker.

Al-Akhbar reported that the plan was to attack Berri’s headquarters with multiple car bombs due to the strict security measures around his command center.

It said Abu Aalfa – who was detained in the wake of the Feb. 19 twin suicide bomb attack against the Iranian Cultural Center in Beirut – worked for Sirajeddine Zreiqat, a commander in the Brigades.

The report said interrogators were stunned when the double bombings took place just as Abu Aalfa was making his confessions.

Abu Aalfa also revealed that other individuals, including a relative identified by the report as "Hasan," were assigned to specific missions, according to Al-Akhbar. All are in custody, the report added.

Al-Akhbar said Zreiqat has also instructed both Abu Aalfa and Hasan, who were apprehended in the Beirut area of Tariq al-Jadideh, to scan the area around former Cabinet Minister Wiam Wahhab’s house, which is located near the Iranian Cultural Center.

Terrorist group of Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed responsibility for the double car bombing that killed at least 11 people and wounded more than 100 others.

Lebanon has been hit by a wave of attacks linked to the Syrian crisis.

The reports said Berri and Wahhab had been advised to use caution in light of the confessions.

NJF/NJF

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