Few people knew who Shadi al-Mawlawi was before his arrest. He worked for his uncle, who had a small business in Tripoli: they distributed plastic bags to shops. Then he turned to Salafism and the Lebanese General Directorate of the General Security had to put quite an effort in bringing him in.
In May 2012, Syrian refugees and anti-Assad regime activists were pouring into Tripoli’s neighborhoods and many Lebanese Sunni families opened their doors to help and shelter them. Mawlawi, a 25-year-old from Bab al-Tabbaneh, was lured out of the neighborhood under the pretext that he needed to cash in some aid for his little girl, who reportedly suffered from hemiplegia. His arrest was caught on tape by the foundation’s surveillance cameras.
Two-and-a-half years later, Shadi al-Mawlawi had become one of the most wanted terrorists in Lebanon. He is wanted for his alleged Islamic State (ISIS) and/or Al-Qaeda connections and for his alleged involvement in Tripoli bombings as well as attacks on the Lebanese Army along with a young fellow Islamist from Bab al-Tabanneh’s Syria Street, Osama Mansour.