Free U.S. citizen, Lebanon orders

BEIRUT — A military tribunal in Beirut on Monday ordered the release of a Lebanese-American held in the country for nearly six months on charges of working for an Israeli-backed militia two decades ago, Lebanon’s state-run news agency said.

Amer Fakhoury was ordered released because more than 10 years had passed since he was accused of torturing prisoners at a jail run by the so-called South Lebanon Army, the National News Agency said.

Fakhoury, 57, is a former South Lebanon Army member who became a U.S. citizen last year, and is now a restaurant owner in Dover, N.H. His case has been closely followed in his home state of New Hampshire, where U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and other officials have called for imposing sanctions on Lebanon to pressure Beirut to release him.

Fakhoury has not been attending questioning sessions in Lebanon over the past few months, after being hospitalized with stage 4 lymphoma.

It was not immediately clear if he will be set free, as he’s facing another case filed by former prisoners who say they were tortured by him.

Fakhoury has been jailed since Sept. 12 after returning to Lebanon on vacation to visit family. Lebanon’s intelligence service said he confessed during questioning to being a warden at Khiam Prison, which was run by the South Lebanon Army during Israel’s 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

Human-rights groups have described the prison as a center for torture.