"On Saturday night, a Lebanese military intelligence force reached one of the entrances of the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh near Sidon and took Shaker, who had been hiding inside the camp for more than 12 years, into custody, security and judicial officials said. The officials said the handover came after coordination between mediators and officials at the Lebanese defence ministry."
"He was tried in absentia and sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2020 for providing support to a terrorist group. The officials said that now that Shaker is being held by Lebanese authorities, the sentences that he received while on the run will be dropped and he will be questioned in preparation to stand trial on new charges of committing crimes against the military."
"The 2013 shootout, which pitted followers of hardline Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir against the Lebanese army, killed at least 18 soldiers and deepened sectarian tensions in Lebanon between Sunni and Shia Muslims. In a video uploaded to YouTube on the second day of the street fighting in Sidon, a bearded Shaker called his enemies pigs and dogs, and taunted the military, saying we have two rotting corpses that we snatched from you yesterday apparently referring to two slain soldiers."
Fadel Shaker, a former Lebanese pop star turned Islamist militant, surrendered to Lebanese military intelligence after hiding in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh for more than 12 years following the June 2013 Sidon clashes. He had been tried in absentia and sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2020 for providing support to a terrorist group. Security and judicial officials said mediators and defence ministry officials coordinated the handover. Officials said previous sentences received while he was on the run will be dropped and he will be questioned to prepare for trial on new military-related charges. Shaker had denied involvement in the clashes.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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