Jan 2, 2014

A security source told Al-Monitor that three indicators suggest that the explosion that shook Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday afternoon (Jan. 2) might be linked to Lebanese army intelligence arresting a leading al-Qaeda official, Saudi citizen Majid bin Mohammad al-Majid, in Lebanon.

The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, explained that the reasons for this belief were as follows: First, the attack came about five days after Majid’s arrest and less than 48 hours after Saudi and US sources confirmed his arrest. Second, the explosion was likely caused by a relatively small bomb, not by a large car bomb. Third, the explosion happened on the edge of the southern suburbs, not in its heart, and at 400 meters (437 yards) from the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj el-Barajneh, which is adjacent to the capital, Beirut, and to the densely populated Shiite area targeted by the blast.

Those three factors, according to the security source, indicate that the party behind the explosion prepared the bomb quickly and that the car was booby-trapped in a hurry. There was not enough time for a large bomb to be prepared. More importantly, the urgency to commit the crime forced the car to be parked close to the place where it was likely prepared. That links the arrest of the Saudi terrorist, who hid for a while in the Ain al-Hilweh camp in southern Lebanon, with jihadist groups hiding in some Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, and with the fact that the explosion happened near one of these camps.

All these indicators suggest that Thursday’s explosion was a response by these groups to the arrest of the commander — or, in the language of terrorist groups, the emir — of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Abdullah Azzam Brigades, Majid, who is in a Beirut hospital.

The source revealed to Al-Monitor that preliminary information indicates that army intelligence was able to obtain accurate information about Majid’s movements (he is also known as "Abu Qatada, the Palestinian") after the suicide bombing that targeted a Lebanese army checkpoint at the entrance of Sidon on Dec. 15.