Diamond Smugglers Arrested at Beirut Airport

Lebanese authorities seized rough diamonds from two men and their wives at Rafik Hariri international airport as they tried to smuggle them to the United Arab Emirates, Voice of Lebanon radio station reported Monday.

VDL said the suspects admitted to trying to smuggle the diamonds to Dubai in two separate incidents that took place the same day, it said.

The seizure came a day after the Lebanese army seized guns and ammunition from the homes of two suspects accused of engaging in a gunbattle on the outskirts of the town of Ferzol.

The army also arrested seven people for trying to escape from a military patrol and for not possessing identification papers.