Wanted in KSA, Al-Majid dies in Lebanon custody

BEIRUT: The leader of an Al-Qaeda-linked group that carried out attacks across the Middle East before shifting its focus to Syria’s civil war died on Saturday while in custody in Lebanon, the army said.
In a short statement, the Lebanese Army said Majid Al-Majid “died this morning while undergoing treatment at the central military hospital after his health deteriorated.” It did not elaborate.
Earlier, a Lebanese Army general told The Associated Press that Al-Majid died after suffering kidney failure. State-run National News Agency said Al-Majid died “after his health conditions deteriorated.”
Al-Majid, a Saudi citizen, was detained in Lebanon late last month and had been held at a secret location.
He was the purported commander of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades — a group with Al-Qaeda links — and one of the 85 most-wanted individuals in his native Saudi Arabia.
The US State Department designated his group a foreign terrorist organization in 2012, freezing any assets it holds in the US and banning Americans from doing business with the group.
According to Lebanese newspapers, Al-Majid was detained during the last week of December while on his way from Beirut to the eastern Bekaa Valley that borders Syria. The reports said that he was captured while in an ambulance after he had undergone dialysis at a hospital in Beirut.