Military Rolls Into Palestinian Camp

Update: See here for more.

The Syrian-backed group-- made up of Syrian, Palestinian, Lebanese, Saudi and other Arab Islamists who arrived via Syria after terrorist tours in Iraq--  has threatened to "open fire and volcanoes" on the army and on Lebanon that will not be "closed" as long as they have the mandate from their god.

But not the Israeli military, this one is Lebanese and up to forty people are already dead. And while the media is pronouncing it a Sunni al Qaeda-like group, the government identifies the group as linked to Syria. Can someone get Speaker Pelosi on the phone to clear this up, given her recent visit and allegedly unquestionable expertise?

NAHR AL-BARED: Lebanese troops battled Al Qaida-linked militants based in a Palestinian refugee camp on Sunday and 38 people were killed in Lebanon's bloodiest internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war.

Thirteen soldiers and 19 militants died in the clashes, which erupted before dawn at the Nahr al-Bared camp and spread into the nearby Sunni Muslim city of Tripoli in north Lebanon.

Major Palestinian factions have already distanced themselves from the Sunni group, Fatah Islam, which is headquartered in Syria. While the media is pronouncing it an al Qaeda-like group, that isn't really clear, except in so  far as the tactics they use. Evidently this started over a bank robbery and attempted arrest.

A cabinet minister said the fighting with Fatah al-Islam, which the government says is backed by Syria, seemed timed to try to derail UN moves to set up an international court to try those suspected of carrying out political killings in Lebanon. The soldiers were killed at Nahr al-Bared just north of Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city, and in an attack on an army patrol in al-Qalamoun to the south, a security source said.

Lebanon's trusty neighbor Syria has closed at least two border check points, out of fear that the violence will spread.

Hundreds of Lebanese applauded as army tanks shelled the camp -- a sign of the long-standing tensions between some Lebanese and the tens of thousands of Palestinians who took refuge from fighting in Israel over the past decades.

The dozen Palestinian refugee camps scattered in Lebanon are off limits to authorities, and some are controlled by armed guerrillas. Lebanese troops usually cordon off the camps with checkpoints. Their presence around Nahr el-Bared increased in recent months after Fatah Islam stepped up its actions.

The tiny Fatah Islam is an offshoot of the pro-Syrian Fatah Uprising, which broke from the mainstream Palestinian Fatah movement in the early 1980s and has headquarters in Syria.

The group is allegedly led by Shaker Youssef al-Absi, a Palestinian living in Syria who was sentenced to death in absentia in July 2004 by a Jordanian military court. Al-Absi was found guilty of conspiring to terrorism in a plot that led to the assassination in Jordan of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley. Former al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was accused of masterminding the killing.

Some Lebanese security officials now consider Fatah Islam a radical Sunni Muslim group with ties to al Qaeda, or at least al Qaeda-style militancy and doctrine. But some anti-Syrian government officials say they are a front for Syrian military intelligence aimed at destabilizing Lebanon.

Comments

[Darth Malice]

Red on Red............My favorite sport.I cheer for both sides.

[Phoenix]

Hi Darth! Nice to see you back. I hope all went well.

Yes, I have to agree with you. They've got problem-solving down to a real science over there.

[Darth Malice]

Phoenix.......yes and I will be leaving for over there soon.....Both sides need better aim.By the way in Iraq they killed the ring leader of the group that killed 5 Americans in Karbala.

[daveinboca]

Maybe we should send Nancy Pelosi back to Damascus to sweet-talk the stick-insect into calling off his goons?

I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding, and the Boy-Assad will reconsider.

[Cindi]

Darth, good to see you! Take care of yourself, will keep you in thoughts and prayers. Kick some ass ;)

[southdakotaboy]

The whole world needs to realize that this is about the only thing these extremeists know. When they can't kill their "real" enemies they turn on each other like rats.

[Phoenix]

I like how they invent new al Qaida groups every week. Let's reopen the Coliseum and let the groups play their little wars. Desert Olympics. During half-time they could have Burka Brawls for the women. The men might like that, too. At the end all the winners get to march around with their arms up shouting 'Death to America!' Then we get to behead them. That's kind of bloody.. Just let loose a pile of those mean pigs with tusks. ha ha... losers, all.

[Phoenix]

I have a question. Where is Hezbollah? I haven't heard one news report mention them. Are they now part of the Lebanese army? Are they the Lebanese army? And why no mention of their name?

[seekeronos]

I'd bet that they are laying low, waiting for their competition to kill itself down.

[Darth Malice]

Thanks Cindi:)