A military prosecutor has charged 35 Arab nationals and alleged members of an al-Qaida-linked group with plotting to bomb foreign targets in Lebanon, including the Italian and Ukrainian diplomatic missions, judicial officials said Saturday. But only nine of the 35 defendants are in police custody, the officials said on condition of anonymity, while the remaining suspects remain at large. Lebanese police, in cooperation with Italian intelligence authorities, arrested 10 Lebanese men on Sept. 17 in connection with alleged plots to bomb the Italian and Ukrainian diplomatic missions in Beirut, assassinate Western diplomats and attack Lebanese security facilities. One of the 10 detainees, Ismail Mohammed al-Khatib, died in custody last week from what police said was a heart attack.
