A Swedish-Lebanese man suspected of being linked to a Beirut hotel bombing in June was killed when a grenade he was in possession of exploded as police attempted to arrest him, announced a security official.
Monzer Khaldoun al-Hassan was wanted by Lebanese police, who believed he passed on explosive belts to two suicide attackers who detonated the bombs when police moved to arrest them at their Beirut hotel on 25 June. That raid came just a few days after police had arrested a Frenchman suspected of plotting a jihad attack on the Lebanese capital.
Hassan was hiding in an apartment in the violence-hit city of Tripoli when authorities raided the building to arrest him, revealed the security official. The suspect resisted and a four-hour gunfight ensued, during which he threw grenades at the police. The official said that as security forces moved into the apartment, the suspect was killed by a grenade he was handling. He added that two policemen sustained bullet injuries. An explosive belt was recovered during a search of the apartment following the suspect’s death.
Hassan travelled from Sweden to Beirut seven months ago following the death of two of his brothers in the conflict in Syria. They had joined rebels trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad.