DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - LEBANON: FATAH-AL-ISLAM, JIHAD & NAHER AL-BARD

Fatah al-Islam an emerging threat for Lebanon
By Weedah Hamzah

Tripoli, Lebanon - The sound of explosions and gunfire echoed Sunday across the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli as the Lebanese Army battled militants of the newly-emerged Fatah al- Islam movement, which is believed to have close links with Syria and with the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

The clashes, in which at least 14 people were killed, caused panic and anger in this usually peaceful city, populated mainly by Sunni Muslims.

'We thought those insurgents were only confined to the Palestinian camp of Naher al-Bard which is located at the outskirts of our city. Today we see that they live among us,We do not want people using the name of Islam to come to our city, fight our army and police and steal from our banks ... this is not Islam,' he added.

Many residents were woken at dawn by the sounds of automatic gunfire and detonating hand grenades. Most immediately assumed that the clashes were between rival Lebanese factions.

'When I heard the sound of machine guns, I thought there is battle raging between the Lebanese political factions, but I was shocked when I heard that Fatah al-Islam was attacking the Lebanese Army posts at the entrance of their camp,\' resident Rashed Fatfat said.

The clashes in Naher al-Bard started shortly after police raided a militant-occupied apartment in Tripoli. The police were looking for suspects in a bank robbery a day earlier in Amioun, northern Lebanon, in which gunmen made off with 125,000 dollars in cash.

A security source in Tripoli told dpa that a car used by the four gunmen who robbed the Mediterranean Bank branch was identified as one of the vehicles used by Fatah al-Islam.

At dawn Sunday, the armed militants resisted arrest and a gunbattle ensued.

Witnesses said Fatah al-Islam gunmen subsequently seized Lebanese army positions at the entrance to the camp. The gunmen also opened fire on roads leading to the city and ambushed a military unit, security officials said.

Tripoli's streets were shuttered and roads leading to the city were blocked by the army to avoid civilian casualties.

Troops could be seen in the Zahriyeh neighbourhood besieging a building where militants had taken refuge and were demanding they surrender.

Soldiers across the city were seen taking position with automatic rifles and rocket launchers.

The incident with Fatah-al Islam has raised concern among Lebanese security officials, who speculated that the militants had been paid by a third party to destabilize the situation in Lebanon.

The clashes prompted Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and head of the largest Sunni political faction the Future Movement, to urge supporters in northern Lebanon to cooperate with authorities in the crackdown against such militants.

It is known that some areas at the outskirts of Tripoli are hotbeds of Sunni fundamentalist groups linked with al-Qaeda.

On December 31, 2000, violence flared between the Lebanese Army and some Sunni Lebanese fundamentalists, believed to have been also linked to al-Qaeda, in a region near Tripoli called Dinniyeh.

The resulting battles killed at least nine Lebanese army soldiers among them a general and the arrest of several sunni militants.

According to Lebanese security sources Fatah al-Islam is led by fugitive Palestinian Shakir al-Abssi, who trains fighters and spreads the ideology of al-Qaeda from the Naher al-Bard refugee camp.

The sources added that Fatah al-Islam was formed by fighters of the former pro-Syrian Fatah Uprising group.

The sources said the group is backed by the Syrian intelligence forces and is using bank robberies in northern Lebanon as a source of funding.

Unconfirmed reports said that al-Abssi is a former associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, slain former leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

A Jordanian court sentenced both men in absentia to death over the 2002 assassination of US diplomat Laurence Foley.

The sources said that Abssi has assembled militia of 150 men and arsenal of explosives, rockets and even anti-aircraft guns in just four months.

Abssi has said in previous interviews said that the US must be punished for its presence in Islamic world.

Tensions have increased around the Naher al-Bard camp since the emergence of Fatah al-Islam earlier this year after they were accused by the Lebanese government of being behind a bus bombing in a Christian area in February that killed three people and wounded 20 others.

The Lebanese army has since then tightened its grip around the Naher al-Bard camp.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Fatah al-Islam an emerging threat for Lebanon