3 Lebanese men released in UAE arrive home

BEIRUT – Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says three Lebanese who were recently released in the United Arab Emirates have arrived home.

The return of the three men early Monday came nearly a month after a court in the UAE sentenced one of the Lebanese nationals to life in prison and two to ten years in prison on charges of links to the militant Hezbollah group, while five others were ordered released.

The agency did not give details beyond saying that the three were detained last year on the charge of forming “a terrorist cell.”

The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, has joined the United States in naming Hezbollah a terrorist organization and slapping sanctions on it, part of an effort to crack down on the Iran-backed group.