Speaking to the National News Agency on Thursday, Hammoud said that the committee released its forensic report Thursday evening, corroborating an initial coronary report stating that Majed al-Majed had died due to a disease.

“The report was detailed and extensive and affirmed that the cause of death was disease and complications,” Hammoud said, adding that he would officially receive the report from the committee Friday.

“We will hand over the body to Majed’s family as soon as the legal measures are finalized, especially since we received via diplomatic channels a request by his brother for repatriation,” he added.

Wanted by the US, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Iran, Majed was the head of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group which claimed responsibility for the Nov. 19 twin suicide bombings outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. The attack killed 25 people, including an Iranian diplomat.

The Army arrested Majed last month, but he died at a military hospital over the weekend before it had a chance to interrogate him.

Referring to the coronary report, caretaker Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi has said Majed died due to kidney failure, lung problems and a viral infection.

But some Iranian officials said they were suspicious of the factors that led to Majed’s death, accusing Saudi Arabia of having a hand.

This prompted Hammoud to form a six-member committee comprised of doctors and coroners which examined Majed’s medical records at Hamid Hospital in the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s Al-Makassed Hospital as well as the Military Hospital in Badaro.

BA/BA