Thank you for using rssforward.com! This service has been made possible by all our customers. In order to provide a sustainable, best of the breed RSS to Email experience, we've chosen to keep this as a paid subscription service. If you are satisfied with your free trial, please sign-up today. Subscriptions without a plan would soon be removed. Thank you!

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The leader of a group with links to Al Qaeda that carried out attacks across the Middle East before shifting its focus to Syria's civil war died on Saturday while in custody in Lebanon, the Lebanese Army said.

In a short statement, the army said the militant, Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid "died this morning while undergoing treatment at the central military hospital after his health deteriorated." It did not elaborate.

Earlier, a Lebanese Army general said Mr. Majid died after experiencing kidney failure. The general was speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The state-run National News Agency said Mr. Majid had died "after his health conditions deteriorated."

Mr. Majid, a Saudi citizen, was detained in Lebanon late last month and had been held at a secret location.

He was the commander of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a Sunni militant group that is an offshoot of Al Qaeda, and one of the 85 most-wanted individuals in his native Saudi Arabia.

The State Department designated his group a foreign terrorist organization in 2012, freezing any assets it holds in the United States and barring Americans from doing business with the group.

The group has claimed responsibility for attacks throughout the region, including the 2010 bombing of a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf and several rocket strikes into Israel from Lebanon.

The most recent attack claimed by the group was the double suicide bombing in November outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut that killed at least 23 people and wounded dozens.

Reports surfaced about his arrest in Lebanon early last week. Security officials eventually confirmed they had a suspect in custody, but they said they were not certain of his identity. On Friday, the Lebanese confirmed his identity after a DNA test.

Mr. Majid was believed to have had serious kidney problems that required dialysis. He was an important militant figure in the region, and the Abdullah Azzam Brigades grew from a relatively small outfit to a larger terrorist group after he took over in mid-2012. He succeeded the organization's previous leader, Saleh al-Qarawi, who was gravely wounded in Pakistan.

According to Lebanese newspapers, Mr. Majid was detained during the last week of December while on his way from Beirut to the eastern Bekaa Valley, which borders Syria. Reports said he was captured while in an ambulance after he had undergone dialysis in Beirut.

In spring 2013, after the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah announced that it was fighting alongside Syrian government troops against the Syrian rebels, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades began to target Hezbollah as well — and by extension, the group's Iranian patrons.

Mr. Majid was taken into custody three days after Saudi Arabia pledged a $3 billion aid package to the Lebanese Army, a move seen as a Saudi attempt to counter the influence of Hezbollah.