A security source told Al-Monitor that three indicators suggest that the explosion that shook Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday afternoon (Jan. 2) might be linked to Lebanese army intelligence arresting a leading al-Qaeda official, Saudi citizen Majid bin Mohammad al-Majid, in Lebanon.
The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, explained that the reasons for this belief were as follows: First, the attack came about five days after Majid’s arrest and less than 48 hours after Saudi and US sources confirmed his arrest. Second, the explosion was likely caused by a relatively small bomb, not by a large car bomb. Third, the explosion happened on the edge of the southern suburbs, not in its heart, and at 400 meters (437 yards) from the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj el-Barajneh, which is adjacent to the capital, Beirut, and to the densely populated Shiite area targeted by the blast.