Al-Qaeda leader in Lebanon identified

A Palestinian man accused of heading a terror cell with the aim of attacking the Lebanese Army was described Tuesday as al-Qaeda’s top operative in the country. “Tawfiq Taha is al-Qaeda’s number one in Lebanon,” a security source told Lebanon's The Daily Star. The source, who closely follows the activities of extremist groups in Lebanon, said Taha was wanted by Lebanese authorities for his involvement in over 30 security-related cases. Taha – also known as Abu Mohammad – was the leader of the six-member terror cell recently charged with planning attacks on the Lebanese Army, the source added. Military Prosecutor Saqr Saqr charged the six earlier this month with “setting up an armed gang and conducting training exercises with the aim of carrying out terrorist acts and operations against military establishment.” Among the cell members were two Army officers. Taha is reportedly holed up in Ain al-Hilweh, the Palestinian refugee camp located near Sidon. The Lebanese Army beefed up its presence around Ain al-Hilweh Monday and tightened security, prompting protests Monday by Palestinian residents who complained of having their freedom of movement severely limited. The security source said Taha – who was a deputy to Abdul-Rahman Mohammad Awad – “masterminded” attacks against UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese Army in south Lebanon in recent years. Awad was al-Qaeda’s top military official in Lebanon and succeeded Shaker Absi as leader of Fatah al-Islam, an Islamic extremist group. In 2007, Fatah al-Islam took over the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon and attacked the Lebanese Army, resulting in battles that destroyed the camp. Awad was killed in an Army ambush in the Bekaa Valley in August last year. “There are few cases being examined by Lebanese military justice regarding terrorist attacks and bombings, including those targeting UNIFIL [the UN Interim Force in Lebanon], in which Tawfiq Taha isn’t the prime suspect,” the source said. Meanwhile, calm reigned in Ain al-Hilweh Tuesday morning, a day after Palestinians protested the security measures enacted by the Army in pursuit of Taha. The Army demanded last week that Palestinian factions and Islamist forces inside the camp hand over the Al-Qaeda’s number one to the authorities. Three of about 12 schools in Ain al-Hilweh closed Tuesday after some teachers failed to show up and others arrived late. In a meeting late Monday, the Palestinian Follow-up Committee, which comprises nationalist and Islamist factions in the camp, described the Lebanese Army as an “ally.” “The Lebanese Army, which fought the Israeli enemy, is an ally of the Palestinian people,” the committee said in a statement at the end of the meeting. “We reject all acts that result in harm to the Lebanese Army,” the statement added. The committee called on the Army to limit its measures to the entrances of the camp and refrain from “harming the interests of the camp’s inhabitants.” It slammed “chaotic action” directed against Lebanese Army checkpoints around Ain al-Hilweh and called for democratic action instead. The Army beefed up its security presence at Ain al-Hilweh Monday, bringing in anti-riot police in response to protests by some 300 Palestinians at the camp. Demonstrations on the road leading to the southern entrance of the camp, where the Army mans a checkpoint, were met with shots in the air by members of the Armed Struggle force, a Fatah-dominated faction that polices the refugee camp.