Lebanese sources reported that a security operation targeting the Palace of Justice in Beirut was thwarted. The operation was set to be executed during a session of the Higher Judicial Council last Friday, which was dedicated to the trial of individuals accused of belonging to "terrorist organizations" and responsible for the suicide bombings that occurred in the southern suburbs of Beirut in 2014, resulting in dozens of casualties and injuries.
A prominent judicial source told "Asharq Al-Awsat" that the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Suhail Aboud, received an urgent call last Friday morning from Major General Tony Kahwaji, the director of military intelligence in the Lebanese army. Kahwaji urged Aboud to "postpone the trial session of the terrorists involved in the Haret Hreik bombings, due to a real security threat facing the security forces escorting the detainees from prison to the Palace of Justice."
The source confirmed that Kahwaji informed Aboud about "reliable information from the intelligence directorate indicating that an armed terrorist group was preparing to launch an attack targeting the prisoner transport vehicle as it traveled from Roumieh Prison to the Palace of Justice, with the aim of freeing detained Naeem Ismail Mahmoud (a Palestinian) known as (Naeem Abbas), who is on trial for charges related to car bombings and explosions in Lebanon carried out by ISIS."
The threat did not only concern the prisoner transport escort; the source indicated that "if the terrorist group failed to intercept the prisoner transport vehicles and free the detainees, they would resort to forcibly storming the Palace of Justice, raiding the courtroom, and liberating Naeem Abbas by force of arms, which would pose a significant risk to the lives of judges, lawyers, and all those present in the courtroom."
Naeem Abbas is considered one of the leaders of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades and is directly responsible for several bombings in Lebanon, including the bombing of the Iranian embassy in Beirut. He is being tried by the military court for multiple terrorist crimes and has confessed in court to being the "engineer of car bomb operations in Syria and their transfer to Lebanon." The military court has issued sentences against him that include multiple life imprisonments.
It was reported that Judge Suhail Aboud "will discuss this issue with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Interior Minister Judge Bassam Mawlawi, and leaders of the security agencies and will demand they devise a solid plan to protect the courts and enable judges to handle their cases without feeling threatened."
