ANSD : Lebanese arrested in Uganda; report alleges Hezbollah ties

SAT 27 - 4 - 2024

Date: Jul 24, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

Lebanese arrested in Uganda; report alleges Hezbollah ties

_{Joseph Haboush| The Daily Star}
BEIRUT: Two Lebanese men have been arrested in Uganda after one attempted to board a flight at Entebbe International Airport, a Lebanese Foreign Ministry source told The Daily Star Tuesday.

According to the Kampala Post, a Ugandan news outlet, Hussein Mahmood Yassine was arrested on July 7 on suspicion of being an undercover agent for Hezbollah.

“He was arrested for sure by Ugandan intelligence,” the source told The Daily Star. Asked for confirmation the arrest was tied to suspicions of Hezbollah links, the source said they had asked Ugandan authorities. “I asked this question in particular, but nobody mentioned this.”

In the article titled “Exclusive: Ugandan and Israeli Intelligence Unmask International Terrorist Plot in Uganda,” the Kampala Post said Yassine had lived in Uganda from 2010. The article said Yassine was arrested while boarding a flight to Lebanon via Addis Ababa.

The article reported that on July 10, the Lebanese Consulate in Uganda “protested the arrest [of Yassine] ... who they claimed was being held incommunicado and had been denied legal representation.

“They claimed that the arrest of Lebanese nationals who are doing business in Uganda will discourage other potential investors from investing in the country.”

Lebanon does not have an embassy in Uganda. The Foreign Ministry source confirmed to The Daily Star that the consulate had protested the arrest.

A Lebanese diplomatic source that handles Lebanese affairs in Uganda also confirmed a letter was sent protesting the measures.

However, this source said there had been no official stance or decision from Ugandan authorities. He said two men had been arrested, both from the Yassine family, on suspicion of switching passports at the airport.

He denied they were imprisoned. “They are in a safe house and their health is great. But we can’t confirm or deny anything until the Ugandan authorities make a decision about the two men.”

The Kampala Post article cited an unidentified intelligence source as saying Hussein Yassine “was recruited into the foreign liaison unit of Hezbollah by a senior Hezbollah official called Ali Wahib Hussein, also sometimes known as Abu Jihad.”

The website also claims Hezbollah instructed Yassine to identify U.S. and Israeli targets in Uganda and the region, to recruit Lebanese expats living in Uganda for Hezbollah operations and “also recruit some Ugandan Muslims who traveled to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and other religious purposes to act as Hezbollah intelligence assets.” The source cited in the article said that the U.S. and Israeli governments “have demanded the immediate prosecution of the Lebanese national.”

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