Syria Holds Suspect In Lebanon Soldiers" Killing – Beirut
The main suspect in last month”s killing of four Lebanese soldiers is in Syrian custody after having entered the neighboring country with forged papers, a high-ranking Lebanese official said Monday.
"Hussein Jaafar is being questioned by Syrian authorities who informed us that they will hand him over once they finish interrogating him," the official told AFP.
He said Syria was trying to determine how Jaafar managed to enter Syria with a fake Syrian ID. The suspect had been arrested in Turkey, which sent him back to Syrian officials.
Jaafar is wanted in Lebanon in connection with the April 13 killing of four Lebanese soldiers.
The soldiers died when their vehicle was raked with bullets and blasted with a grenade in an apparent drugs-related ambush in the Bekaa, a lawless region ruled by clans and long known as a fertile drug-producing area.
Jaafar is the brother of Ali Abbas Jaafar, a drug baron killed by the army in March after refusing to stop at a checkpoint. He was wanted on a variety of charges, including drug trafficking and attempted murder.
His killing prompted the ambush on the soldiers.
Lebanese authorities have issued arrest warrants for Hussein Jaafar and seven other suspects in the case.