Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Fatah Al-Islam Leader, Thought Dead, Returns in New Audio Tape

Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

The leader of Fatah Al-Islam, the Lebanese Muslim fundamentalist terrorist group active among Arab refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, has issued a series of threats in a new audio tape. The terrorist, Shakir Yusef Al-Abbsi, was originally presumed killed in extensive battles with the Lebanese army in the latter part of 2007. Al-Abbsi said, "I think victory, as far as you are concerned, is to please Bush and the Jews." Al-Abbsi warned that the three-month-long armed clash between Fatah Al-Islam and the Lebanese military that ended in September 2007 was “only the beginning.” In the lengthy recording, he further threatened to track down and kill the Lebanese army commander, General Michel Suleiman, whom he said was responsible for the utter destruction unleashed by the military on the Nahr Al-Bard refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

Suleiman gained great notoriety among the Lebanese populace following his success against Fatah Al-Islam, leading to his nomination for the post of president. Referring to the popular leader, Al-Abbsi said, "I think victory, as far as you are concerned, is to please Bush and the Jews. Is he not the god you worship?"

Nahr Al-Bard, administered by UNRWA, was the base camp for the Fatah Al-Islam terrorists. Lebanese officials accused them of carrying out a violent Islamist campaign in Lebanon and sent in artillery cannons, which flattened much of the camp and drove most residents to flee. Fatah Al-Islam gunmen held held out for some time waged a bitter battle that included bombings in uninvolved Lebanese towns. Nearly 400 people were killed in the military campaign, including over 200 Fatah Al-Islam fighters and 168 Lebanese soldiers.

Fatah Al-Islam: Al-Qaeda in Lebanon?
Fatah Al-Islam associates itself with the international jihad of Al-Qaeda, although Lebanese officials have also said it is a Syrian intelligence creation. Lebanese soldiers claimed to have found documentation linking the group to Al-Qaeda and Hizbullah, saying its leader was intent on establishing an Islamic state in northern Lebanon.

In this week's audio release, Al-Abbsi said, "This was only the beginning.... By God, you will not live safely. The mill of war has started to grind... between the infidels and the believers." Calling the Lebanese military a "Crusader army," he said that the boots of the mujahideen would trample Lebanese commanders.
Al-Abbsi also referred to... Osama Bin-Laden as the "sheikh of [the] mujahideen."

Fatah Al-Islam in the PA
In December, senior Fatah terrorists in the Palestinian Authority warned that Fatah al-Islam had infiltrated Gaza and was conducting operations in the area. The group has already claimed responsibility for firing a rocket at Sderot.

Al-Abbsi also referred to Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin-Laden as the "sheikh of [the] mujahideen."

Fatah leaders said the Lebanese group's presence was a dangerous development. They blamed the Islamist Hamas terrorist group for the presence of Fatah al-Islam in Gaza, saying the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007 created "utter chaos." .

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