Beirut, May 15: Soldiers have arrested nine suspected terrorists who planned to attack the US embassy and kidnap cabinet ministers in Lebanon, a senior Lebanese security officer said today. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the detainees comprise seven Lebanese and two Palestinians. It was not yet known whether they were linked to the al-Qaida terror group that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, he added. His comments came hours after the Lebanese military issued a statement saying it had arrested members of a terrorist network that planned to attack the embassy of a "major Western state" -- the term that Lebanese media often use to refer to the US. A spokeswoman at the US embassy in Beirut said the embassy had "no comment" on the statement, which came from the Army's intelligence directorate. The statement said the network was exposed and its members detained with the help of the Syrian forces in Lebanon. Syria has nearly 25,000 troops stationed in Lebanon. The statement did not give the number and identities to the detainees, but it said they had been interrogated and handed over to the "appropriate judicial authorities". The network planned to attack security and military centres in Lebanon and to kidnap government officials to bargain for the release of their detained comrades, the statement said. The security officer said the detainees were believed to be seeking the release of Muslim fundamentalists from north Lebanon who arrested after shootouts with the Lebanese Army more than two years.

Bureau Report