Eight members of an Islamic militant group sawed bars off their cell windows in a high-security Lebanese prison on Tuesday, scaled down the building using blankets tied together, then stood on each other’s shoulders to help one jump over a wall, security officials said. Guards prevented seven of the prisoners from fleeing, but one escaped, the officials said. The escaped prisoner, Taha al-Hajj Suleiman, is a member of Fatah Islam, which fought a three-month battle against the army inside a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon in 2007. The Interior Ministry suspended several police officers who were on duty at the prison and transferred others until an investigation was completed.

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