According to the local newspaper, al-Safir, members of the armed group are accused of conducting several missile attacks against Israel, providing logistical support for others and for planning terrorist attacks against UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

The prosecutor, Rahsid Mezhir, has demanded jail terms from six months to life imprisonment for the alleged members of the al-Qaeda cell.

Six terrorism suspects were present in court. Another three terrorists, considered the key leaders of the group, named as Naim M., Tawfiq T. and Muhammad G., are still free and are wanted by police.

Investigators are certain that the three fugitives are loyal supporters of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of al-Qaeda in Iraq and that they conducted operations in Iraq until his death in June 2006.

Once they left Iraq, they reportedly moved to the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Halwa in Lebanon, where they re-established the new terrorist cell. -AKI