DHAKA: Majid al-Majid, the commander of the al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades, has died in custody in a hospital in Lebanon, state media say.

Majid al-Majid, a Saudi who is on Saudi Arabia`s most-wanted-terrorists list, was arrested in Beirut recently.

An army general told media the militant died of kidney failure, reports the BBC.

The group has carried out attacks across the Middle East and claimed a bomb attack on Iran`s Beirut embassy in November that killed 23 people.

The Iranian cultural attaché was among the dead.

Lebanese security sources said Majid al-Majid died in a military hospital in Beirut on Saturday, a day after going into a coma suffering from kidney failure.

It was only on Friday that the Lebanese authorities said that DNA tests had confirmed his identity.

BDST: 1637 HRS, JAN 04, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor