Majid bin Mohammad al-Majid, the emir of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in the Levant, was undergoing kidney treatment at the Almakased hospital in Beirut, when he suddenly found himself face to face with the Lebanese army. A security source told Al-Monitor that the al-Qaeda-affiliated emir was arrested after Lebanese military intelligence received information that he was about to leave for an unknown destination.
“The decision was taken and the army arrested Majid without shooting a bullet,” said the security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He added, “The army knew that Majid left his hiding place in Sidon, 40 kilometers [25 miles] south of Beirut, on the evening of the attacks on the army two weeks ago [Dec. 15].” The source was citing the Sidon attacks — which left four attackers and one Lebanese soldier killed after a triple attack on checkpoints around the city — that Al-Monitor reported on in detail.
The Abdullah Azzam Brigades is on the US State Department's terror list — though Majid's name is not — and Majid is among the 85 most wanted terrorists in Saudi Arabia. He was appointed successor to Saleh al-Qarawi, who was arrested on June 9, 2012, after returning to Saudi Arabia from Pakistan, where he was reportedly wounded in a drone strike.
Shortly after being appointed, Majid posted an audio message addressing Lebanese Shiites in general and Hezbollah and the Amal movement in particular. Later, Majid was said to have moved to Syria, but sources in the Palestinian Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon — where he used to live — denied these claims, insisting that the only time Majid moved from the camp was in mid-December. The sources suggest that few candidates are available to replace him, including Tawfik Taha and Fatah al-Islam leader Osama Alshihabi, whose name was added to the US State Department's terror list on Dec. 18. Some expected the group might undergo changes that fit the new situation in the region. This might involve merging the group with one of the main al-Qaeda-affiliated factions in Syria under one leadership, while the Abdullah Azzam Brigades will continue to play the same role it currently plays but in a way that the head branch in Syria can build on in their fight with Hezbollah in particular.
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