Army forces raided a southern district of Beirut and arrested a member of a powerful Shi'ite Muslim clan which claims responsibility for kidnapping 20 Syrians and a Turkish businessman.
The Meqdad clan abducted the men on August 15 in what they said was a response to the capture of one of their kinsmen in Damascus by the Free Syrian Army, the armed wing of a revolt which aims to topple Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
The kidnappings have reinforced fears that the Syria conflict could trigger more instability in its much smaller neighbour.
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