BEIRUT
A leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front, which fights in Syria against the Bashar al-Assad regime, was arrested in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday, local security sources said.
Nidhal Suweidan was detained by a Lebanese military intelligence patrol near theborder with Syria, the sources said.
Reports were conflicting regarding Suweidan's nationality and whether he was Syrian or Lebanese.
The security sources, however, said Suweidan was responsible for several operations carried out by Al-Nusra Front in Lebanon.
"He was under close watch by the Lebanese military-intelligence apparatus, which obtained information about his role," one of the sources told Anadolu Agency.
Suweidan was reportedly taken to Lebanese Defense Ministry headquarters for interrogation.
Meanwhile, security forces arrested Omar al-Masri, a Syrian national, on charges of belonging to a militant terrorist group.
The Al-Nusra Front claimed responsibility for three recent bombings in eastern Beirut, a stronghold of Lebanese Shiite resistance movement Hezbollah.
The movement vowed to carry out more attacks in Hezbollah-controlled areas of Lebanon in retaliation for Hezbollah's ongoing support for the Syrian regime.
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