Lebanese state prosecutor charged eleven members suspected of belonging to the Fatah al-Islam militia with murder and terrorism. Saeed Mirza said that the defendants, seven of them in preventive detention, were charged in connection with the murder of several Lebanese army soldiers who were killed during a 15-week standoff with the Al-Qaida-inspired militants that ended on September 2. More than 400 people died in the battles at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, in northern Lebanon, including 167 soldiers.A total 297 members of Fatah al-Islam have been charged in connection with the fighting since August. The suspects charged on Monday are accused of terrorist acts, threatening the state as well as its civil and military institutions, and firing on soldiers, civilians and interior ministry forces, according to the charge sheet.
Mirza said he was seeking arrest warrants for the 11 men who are of various Arab nationalities. The prosecutor in August filed charges against 227 militants, including the head of Fatah al-Islam Shaker al-Abssi, whose whereabouts remain unknown. Charges were also filed last week against 59 others.