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German Authorities Arrest Lebanese Man Accused of Procuring Drone Components for Hezbollah

Police officer stand in front of a mosque in Berlin on Dec. 18, 2018 (Paul Zinken/dpa via AP)
Police officer stand in front of a mosque in Berlin on Dec. 18, 2018 (Paul Zinken/dpa via AP)
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German Authorities Arrest Lebanese Man Accused of Procuring Drone Components for Hezbollah

Police officer stand in front of a mosque in Berlin on Dec. 18, 2018 (Paul Zinken/dpa via AP)
Police officer stand in front of a mosque in Berlin on Dec. 18, 2018 (Paul Zinken/dpa via AP)

A Lebanese man accused of being a member of the Hezbollah militant group and procuring drone components that were to be exported for use in attacks against Israel has been arrested in Germany, prosecutors said Monday.

The suspect, identified only as Fadel Z. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in Salzgitter in northern Germany on Sunday, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

He joined Hezbollah in Lebanon by the summer of 2016, prosecutors said. This year, he allegedly started procuring components in Germany for the assembly of military drones, particularly engines, on the group's orders. “They were supposed to be exported to Lebanon and used in terrorist attacks on Israel,” prosecutors said, The AP reported.

On Monday, Fadel Z. was brought before a judge, who ordered him kept in custody pending a possible indictment.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been trading near daily exchanges of fire since the Israel-Hamas war broke out nine months ago.

Hezbollah says it is striking Israel in solidarity with Hamas, another Iran-allied group that ignited the war in Gaza with its Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. Hezbollah's leadership says it will stop its attacks once there is a ceasefire in Gaza and that, while it does not want war, it is ready for one.

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UN Expert Panel Sent to Venezuela Blasts Lack of Transparency in Presidential Elections

Lawmaker Diosdado Cabello stands next to an image of late President Hugo Chavez in Congress as the National Assembly debates a bill that controls and regulates NGOs, in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Lawmaker Diosdado Cabello stands next to an image of late President Hugo Chavez in Congress as the National Assembly debates a bill that controls and regulates NGOs, in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
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UN Expert Panel Sent to Venezuela Blasts Lack of Transparency in Presidential Elections

Lawmaker Diosdado Cabello stands next to an image of late President Hugo Chavez in Congress as the National Assembly debates a bill that controls and regulates NGOs, in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Lawmaker Diosdado Cabello stands next to an image of late President Hugo Chavez in Congress as the National Assembly debates a bill that controls and regulates NGOs, in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A panel of experts from the United Nations said Venezuela's recent presidential elections lacked “basic transparency and integrity,” adding an important voice to those who have cast doubt on President Nicolás Maduro's claim he won the contest, The AP reported.

A four-member team sent by UN Secretary General António Guterres was in Caracas for over a month in the run up to the July 28 election, one of the few independent outside observers invited by Maduro's government.

While the UN group praised the logistic organization of the voting, it harshly criticized the National Electoral Council, or CNE, for flouting local rules and announcing Maduro the winner without tabulated results from each of the 30,000 polling booths nationwide, something it said “had no precedent in contemporary democratic elections.”

“This had a negative impact on confidence in the outcome announced by the CNE among a large part of the Venezuelan electorate,” the UN experts said in a statement late Tuesday.

The UN statement follows criticism by another invited observer, the Atlanta-based Carter Center, which said it could not verify the CNE's results. Venezuela's foreign minister has blasted the Carter Center, accusing it of lying and servings as a tool of US “imperialism.”

While the UN team stopped short of validating claims by the opposition that its candidate, former diplomat Edmundo González, trounced Maduro by a more than 2-to-1 margin, it said that the voting records the anti-Maduro coalition published online appeared to exhibit all of the original security features.

“This suggests a key transparency safeguard may be available, as intended, with respect to any officially released results,” the experts added, noting that electoral authorities failed to meet with the group prior to the mission's departure from Venezuela five days after voting.

Since the election, security forces have arrested more than 2,000 people for demonstrating against Maduro or casting doubt on his claims that he won a third term.