The Lebanese army announced in a statement today, Saturday, the arrest of a prominent leader of the Al-Qaeda organization in the town of Dair Ammar, northeast of Tripoli. The army did not disclose the name of the leader but referred to him by the initials (T.M.). The statement indicated that a special unit from the intelligence directorate carried out the arrest on Friday. It added that "T.M." is one of the most significant leaders of Al-Qaeda and the founder of its cells in Lebanon. The army's statement noted: "After a long course of security work and intelligence efforts over the years, a special unit from the intelligence directorate arrested on 19/5/2023 in the town of Dair Ammar - the north, the citizen (T.M.), who is one of the most prominent leaders of Al-Qaeda and a founder of its cells in Lebanon, and he played a prominent role in the establishment of the terrorist organization 'Fatah al-Islam'."
The arrested individual had close ties with the organization's leaders and went underground in 2007 after the Nahr al-Bared battle, only to return to play a sensitive role following the emergence of the "ISIS" and "Al-Nusra Front," as he became affiliated with the terrorist groups active in northern Lebanon, working to shelter one of their most dangerous leaders after the Tripoli battle in 2014 when these groups united to fight the Lebanese army in the neighborhoods of Tripoli and the town of Bhanin. Investigations with the arrested individual are ongoing under the supervision of the competent judiciary.
