Away from action movies that always depict invincible crime fighters battling powered criminals and bringing them to justice, the world, weighed down by the subtle battle between good and evil, still strives against injustice brought by the villains’ wrongdoings.
Throughout its history, Lebanon has been constantly rattled by terrorist acts and assassinations that targeted politicians, security forces as well as civilians. Criminals have been relentlessly seeking to prey on whoever may foil their plots, knowing that they will eventually manage to sink into oblivion and, therefore, escape punishment.
As Lebanon continues to struggle in order to promote the rule of law and ensure that the gravest crimes don't go unpunished, several wanted fugitives are still on the loose, including the following ten:
1. Habib Chartouni
After completing his studies in France, Habib Chartouni returned to Lebanon and became very close to Nabil Alam, a security official in the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, who eventually convinced him to carry out the assassination of President-elect Bachir Gemayel on September 14, 1982. Chartouni used to live on the third floor of the building where the Kataeb headquarters was located.
Arrested two days later by the Lebanese Forces, the 24-year-old Chartouni confessed to killing “the traitor” Bachir Gemayel.
Chartouni escaped Roumieh Prison during a Syrian offensive in October 1990 after spending almost eight years in detention; he was never tried.
Until this day, Chartouni’s whereabouts and fate remain unknown.
2. Shaker al-Abssi
Born in the Ain Sultan refugee camp near the West Bank town of Jericho in 1955, Abssi fled with his family to Jordan after Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 war.
He left for Tunis to study medicine, but his main ambition was to work directly for "the liberation of Palestine." Abssi jointed Fatah, the main PLO faction, which sent him to Libya to become a pilot of Russian-built MiG fighters at the air force academy there. During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, he fought in the Bekaa Valley as the PLO did not have any planes, before returning to serve in the Libyan air force.
In 2002, the Syrian authorities threw him in prison for belonging to a banned Islamist group and for plotting attacks.
During his three years in jail, a Jordanian court sentenced him to death in absentia for having taken part in organizing the 2002 assassination in Amman of US diplomat Laurence Foley.
Released in 2005, he left for Lebanon, where he was an activist leader for the Fatah-Intifada group, which was close to Syria, in the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila in Beirut.
But months later he chose to embrace radical Islam and led 100 armed men to set up beside the Nahr al-Bared camp; there he founded Fatah al-Islam.
Abssi's militia fought with Lebanese troops in the Northern refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in a battle which left more than 400 people dead before the fighting ended in September 2007.
State Prosecutor Said Mirza accused Shaker al-Abssi of "incitement to murder" over the attack.
Abssi's fate has been shrouded in mystery amid speculation and conflicting reports; in December 2008, Fatah al-Islam announced that its leader had been "captured or killed" by Syrian forces and named his successor.
3. Refaat Eid
Refaat Eid, who has taken over the leadership of the Arab Democratic Party after his father former MP Ali Eid, took part in the clashes that raged between militants from Tripoli’s rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.
In April 2014, Military Investigative Judge Riyad Abu Ghayda Thursday issued an arrest warrant in absentia for Eid and 11 of his associates over their alleged involvement in said clashes.
Eid and his father reportedly fled the country to avoid prosecution; while Refaat is said to be seeking refuge in Syria, Ali Eid might have headed from Syria to the United States since he has been granted a temporary residence permit there.
4. Mahmouk Hayek
On July 5, 2012, MP Boutros Harb survived an attempted assassination after two detonators were found on top of the elevator inside the Beirut building housing his office in Badaro. Three were suspected to be involved in the act.
Hayek, who hails from the Nabatieh village of Adchit, was indicted in February 2013 for attempting to kill Harb, but his whereabouts remained unknown. He was charged with carrying out acts of terror after planting a bomb in the elevator of the building that houses Harb’s office in Beirut’s Badaro neighborhood.
Hayek was reportedly killed while fighting alongside regime troops in Syria; security sources say it had received information indicating the wanted suspect’s death, but could not confirm the claims.
Suspects indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in former PM Rafik Hariri’s murder case
5. Mustafa Amine Badreddine (also known as Mustafa Youssef Badreddine, Sami ISSA and Elias Fouad SAAB)
Badreddine was serving a death sentence in Kuwait before escaping from the country in 1990 during the Iraqi invasion of the country. He entered Kuwait in 1983 on a Lebanese passport under the name of Elias Saab, and had been sentenced to death for masterminding seven blasts in the country in a single day in the same year.
Badreddine is said to have entered Kuwait to attend meetings which were aimed at helping the Iranians in their war against Saddam Hussain’s Iraq. He is then said to have trained other militants on explosives and later these militants sent these explosives to various areas of Kuwait, including the American and French embassies. The resulting explosions, with the biggest one being at the American Embassy, resulted in many deaths and injuries.
An Israeli website that is expert on terrorism revealed that Badreddine has assumed his responsibilities as Hezbollah’s new military commander, being therefore the successor of slain official Imad Mughnieh.
He is a cousin and the brother-in-law of Mughnieh.
6. Salim Ayyash
Ayyash is accused of having coordinated the physical perpetration of the attack and, together with Mustafa Amine Badreddine, the surveillance of Rafiq Hariri prior to the bombing. Ayyash is also accused of having played a role in preparing the false claim of responsibility which aimed to shield the real conspirators, and to have purchased the van used in carrying out the attack.
7. Hussein Hassan Oneissi
Oneissi, also known as “Hussein Hassan Issa”, is accused of having participated in a conspiracy with others aimed at committing a terrorist act to assassinate Rafiq Hariri. Oneissi, along with Assad Hassan Sabra, is also accused of having participated prior to the attack in the selection of a suitable individual, later identified as Ahmed Abu Adass, to make a false claim of responsibility; and in his disappearance. The indictment further alleges that Oneissi and Sabra acted together immediately after the assassination in order to disseminate statements falsely attributing responsibility for the attack, and to ensure the delivery and subsequent broadcast of the video-taped false claim of responsibility.
8. Hassan Habib Merhi
Hassan Habib Merhi is accused of having participated in a conspiracy with others aimed at committing a terrorist act to assassinate Rafiq Hariri. Merhi is accused of having coordinated, together with Mustafa Amine Badreddine, the preparation of the false claim of responsibility, and, at times, to have been in contact with Salim Jamil Ayyash in relation to the preparations for the 14 February 2005 attack. Additionally, prior to the attack, Merhi is believed to have coordinated the activities of Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra in order to identify a suitable individual (later identified as Ahmad Abu Adass) to make a video-taped false claim of responsibility for the attack.
9. Assaad Hassan Sabra
Sabra is accused of having participated in a conspiracy with others aimed at committing a terrorist act to assassinate Rafiq Hariri. Sabra, along with Hussein Hassan Oneissi, is also accused of having participated prior to the attack in the selection of a suitable individual, later identified as Ahmed Abu Adass, to make a false claim of responsibility. The indictment further alleges that Sabra and Oneissi acted together immediately after the assassination in order to disseminate statements falsely attributing responsibility for the attack, and to ensure the delivery and subsequent broadcast of the video-taped false claim of responsibility.
10. Ahmad al-Assir
Military judge Riad Abu Ghida recommended seeking death sentences for Ahmad al-Assir and 53 others, including singer-turned-fundamentalist Fadel Shaker.
The sentences have been sought in connection with the 2013 summer clashes in Abra, which left at least 18 soldiers and 11 gunmen dead.
Assir is accused of having formed armed groups that attacked an institution of the state, the army, killed officers and soldiers, took explosive materials and light and heavy weapons and used them against the army.
Assir and a number of his supporters, including Shaker, have been on the run since the clashes in June.
The cleric gained notoriety for his fierce opposition to Hezbollah, particularly following the group's decision to back the Syrian regime in the country's civil war.
Since becoming a fugitive, Assir has released a number of audio recordings and several tweets renewing his criticism of Hezbollah, its ally Iran. He has also accused the Lebanese army of failing to protect the country's Sunnis.
Article originally written in Arabic by Elise Merhej
TWEET YOUR COMMENT