MAJDAL ANJAR, Lebanon: Majdal Anjar is back in the media spotlight, after a man from the restive Bekaa town who was wanted in the kidnapping of seven foreign tourists in Lebanon was handed over to Lebanese authorities.
But officials and residents maintain the town’s reputation for criminal activity and violence is not entirely deserved.
Last week, Syria handed over to Lebanese authorities Wael Abbas, who is believed to have led the group responsible for kidnapping seven Estonians earlier this year.
Abbas, 29, was also involved in several recent confrontations with members of the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch in the Bekaa Valley, security sources told The Daily Star earlier this month.
With his capture, more details of the abduction are expected to be revealed.
Shortly after crossing to Lebanon from Syria in March, the seven tourists were captured by masked men near the industrial zone of the city of Zahle. The cyclists were released in July in an operation that seemed to have been launched without the knowledge of Lebanese authorities.
Conflicting reports have emerged over how Syrian General Security found Abbas shortly before handing him over to Lebanese authorities.
But investigations into the abduction of the Estonians may not be concluded as two men alleged to have been involved are still at large. Hussein Hujeiri, the suspected mastermind of the operation who hails from the northern town of Arsal, and Mohammad al-Ahmad, a Syrian national born in Majdal Anjar who is also believed to be involved in the operation, are not in custody.
A total of 10 people have been arrested by Lebanese authorities in the case.
Sami Ajami, Majdal Anjar’s mayor, told The Daily Star that the arrest of Abbas should put an end to accusations that town is sheltering fugitives.
Ajami said that the town’s residents are relieved that all but two of those involved in the abduction have been arrested, adding that media outlets have exaggerated security incidents in the town.
Majdal Anjar, which is home to 20,000 people and located on the eastern entrance of the Bekaa governorate, near the Lebanese-Syrian Masnaa border crossing, has seen growing tensions in recent years.
Smuggling networks and Islamist organizations have tried to make use of the rugged terrain and its location along the border with Syria to smuggle products to Syria as well as fighters destined for Iraq to fight U.S. forces.
Tension mounted in 2004, when Ismail Khatib died in Lebanese custody after being arrested on charges of being a member of Al-Qaeda.
The death of Khatib, who hails from Majdal Anjar, outraged many young people in the town who took part in his funeral openly carrying weapons.
Sectarian tension increased in the Sunni town with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 and again after pro-Hezbollah gunmen overran large swathes of West Beirut in May 2008 when the Cabinet of then-Prime Minister Fouad Siniora decided to dismantle the party’s telecommunications network.
A number of clashes pitting the Lebanese army and ISF against Lebanese fugitives from the town have led to casualties on both sides and the town has been besieged and raided by the Lebanese Army more than once.
The most recent incident occurred in April, when Abbas is believed to have fled during a gunfight with the ISF’s Information Branch that left fugitive Darwish Khanjar and Information Branch Sgt. Maj. Rashed Sabri dead.
But residents of the town deny that there is any significance presence of Islamists in Majdal Anjar, maintaining that only some individuals from the town join such groups.