Lebanese security forces arrest fugitive hard-line cleric

Lebanese authorities arrested Salafist Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri global Airport Saturday after more than two years on the run, security sources told The Daily Star.

Lebanese officials said he was arrested trying to fly to Egypt using a false passport, having “changed his appearance”.

Assir fled justice in June 2013, after deadly clashes against the Lebanese army in Abra region in the southern city of Sidon. The fighting killed 18 Lebanese soldiers and worsened sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims who support opposing sides in neighboring Syria’s civil war.

Assir was a virtual political unknown until the outbreak of the Syria conflict in 2011.

According to the Lebanese army, which reportedly sought death penalty for al-Assir, the clashes began after the cleric’s followers opened fire without provocation on an army checkpoint.

His preachings were given considerable coverage among Lebanon’s satellite channels, but Assir also indulged in media stunts such as posting photos of himself and his entourage swimming in the sea wearing white t-shirts and long shorts.

When the fighting was over, a variety of weapons including rocket launchers were found in Assir’s headquarters complex, which included a mosque, several office buildings and apartment blocks.