al-Qaeda's commander in Lebanon has died

Majid al-Majid, al-Qaeda's commander in Lebanon, has died in custody in a Beirut hospital, Lebanon's army says.
The Saudi, who led the Abdullah Azzam Brigades and was on Saudi Arabia's most-wanted-terrorists list, was arrested in Lebanon recently.

An army general told Associated Press the militant died of kidney failure.

The group has carried out attacks across the Middle East and claimed a bomb attack on Iran's Beirut embassy in November that killed 23 people.
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Analysis
image of Carine Torbey Carine Torbey BBC Arabic, Beirut

Majid al-Majid was no doubt a very precious catch not only for Lebanon but for many other countries where he was among the most-wanted.

The whole intelligence operation, from the capture of the Saudi national until the announcement of his death, has been mired in rumour and ambiguity. Many reports in local media talk of a US tip-off leading to his capture. The Lebanese army is keeping a tight lid on any details, perhaps fearing a backlash from supporters of various Islamist groups.

The most important question remains whether the authorities were able to extract any valuable information before he died, or whether he was interrogated at all. There is only one certainty: Lebanon appears to have become an operational centre for al-Qaeda affiliated groups. Many fear Majid al-Majid is just one link in a long chain of jihadi groups here.

The Iranian cultural attache was among the dead.
'Interrogated'

A Lebanese army statement said Majid al-Majid died in a military hospital in Beirut on Saturday, as he was receiving medical treatment.
Security sources said he had gone into a coma suffering from kidney failure.

He was believed to have required dialysis for the condition.

It was only on Friday that the Lebanese authorities said that DNA tests had confirmed his identity.

Defence Minister Fayez Ghosn earlier confirmed the commander was being held by army intelligence in Beirut and was "being interrogated in secret". He refused to say when and how the arrest took place

-BBC NEWS

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