Pop star turned militant Fadel Shaker surrenders to Lebanese military

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 file photo, Lebanese pop idol Fadel Shaker delivers a sermon in support of Syrian rebel fighters and Syrian refugees, after the Friday prayer, in Beirut, Lebanon.

BEIRUT — A Lebanese pop star turned wanted Islamic militant handed himself over to the country’s military intelligence service Saturday, 12 years after going on the run, judicial and security officials said.

Fadel Shaker, had been on the run since the bloody street clashes between Sunni Muslim militants and the Lebanese army in June 2013 in the coastal city of Sidon. He was tried in absentia and sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2020 for providing support to a “terrorist group.”

On Saturday night, a Lebanese military intelligence force reached one of the entrances of the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh near Sidon and took Shaker, who had been hiding inside the camp for more than 12 years, into custody, two security and two judicial officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the handover came after co-ordination between mediators and officials at the Lebanese Defense Ministry.

The officials said that now that Shaker is being held by Lebanese authorities, the sentences that he received while on the run will be dropped and he will be questioned in preparation to stand trial on new charges of committing crimes against the military.

Shaker had denied in the past playing any role in the clashes in Sidon and said he never advocated bloodshed.

The 2013 shootout, which pitted followers of hard line Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir against the Lebanese army, killed at least 18 soldiers and deepened sectarian tensions in Lebanon between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

In a video uploaded to YouTube on the second day of the street fighting in Sidon, a bearded Shaker called his enemies pigs and dogs, and taunted the military, saying “we have two rotting corpses that we snatched from you yesterday” — apparently referring to two slain soldiers.

Shaker became a pop star throughout the Arab world in 2002 with a smash hit. Almost 10 years later, he fell under the influence of al-Assir and shocked fans by turning up next to the hard line cleric at rallies and later saying that he was giving up singing to become closer to God.

In July, Shaker, along with his son Mohammed, released a new song that went viral throughout the Arab world and got over 113 million views of YouTube.

Shaker’s handover comes as the Lebanese army began the process to collect weapons from Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian refugee camps that have been off-limits to Lebanese authorities.

Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press