Ahmed Al-Assir, a fugitive ultra-hardline cleric, was arrested today at Beirut International Airport while trying to flee the country disguised using a forged passport, security officials confirmed.
Al-Assir led a deadly shootout against Army troops in the Southern city of Sidon and is believed to be involved in heating up sectarian tensions among Sunni and Shia across the tottering country.
Last year’s gunfight left 18 Lebanese soldiers dead, scores others wounded in what has been regarded as one of the most ‘serious repercussions’ for the ongoing Syrian war. Al-Assir, being an ultra-hardline Sunni cleric called on Sunnis Lebanon-wide to join forces against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, explicitly showing enmity for Hezbollah for militarily supporting its ally in Damascus.
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