While a Syrian trained, funded and supported group called “Fatah Al Islam” is spreading chaos in Tripoli (in northern Lebanon) Lebanese politicians are still bickering and infighting…
Yesterday morning the Lebanese police, following an investigation of a bank robbery, clashed with a very well armed group of pseudo Muslim fanatics. Shortly after, the army intervened after ten of its soldiers were kidnapped and then killed in cold blood. A full fledged battle followed and “Fatah Al Islam” were pushed back in the Palestinian refugee camp they were initially based in.
Since day break today, the army has been pounding the Syrian backed group inside the Palestinian camp of “al bedaoui” close to Tripoli. If it was up to me I would have given the order to enter the camp and eradicate there murderers once and for all…
14 comments :
It is the US that is financing sunni radicals in lebanon, not Syria that has been fighting them for decades.
How far does the Saniora Government Stand from Sunni Radicals?
Here are some excerpts from several int'l sources and articles
>> The Lebanese government, based on former US intelligence sources, is
>> arming Sunni militants with the help of the Bush Administration, and
>> without the knowledge of the US Congress: The United States has also
>> given clandestine support to the Siniora government, according to the
>> former senior intelligence official and the U.S. government consultant.
>> "We are in a program to enhance the Sunni capability to resist Shiite
>> influence, and we're spreading the money around as much as we can," the
>> former senior intelligence official said. We don't have the ability to
>> determine and get pay vouchers signed by the people we like and avoid
>> the people we don't like. It's a very high-risk venture."
>>
>>
>> The Siniora government and its allies had allowed some aid to end up in
>> the hands of emerging Sunni radical groups in northern Lebanon, the
>> Bekaa Valley, and around Palestinian refugee camps in the south. These
>> groups, though small, are seen as a buffer to Hezbollah; at the same
>> time, their ideological ties are with Al Qaeda. They include Fath al
>> Islam, and Asbat Al Ansar. They have received arms and supplies from
>> Lebanese internal-security forces and militias associated with the
>> Siniora government.
>>
>>
>> A London Sunday Telegraph article has claimed that these radicals are
>> also being funded by oil-rich Saudis.
>>
>
>> Following is an excerpt of a Reuters report: The latest flow of money
>> began in December in an attempt to create a counterweight to the Shi'ite
>> militant group Hezbollah, according to former U.S. intelligence
>> officials and independent analysts who view it as part of a Saudi effort
>> to bolster Sunni Islam in the face of growing Shi'ite activism across
>> the Middle East and in Africa.
>>
>>
>> The Associated Press has also recently reported that Jordanian
>> "authorities confiscated a videotape of an Al-Jazeera interview with the
>> country's former crown prince" Hassan, the brother of the late King
>> Hussein. The interview was conducted by one of Al Jazeera's most
>> prominent news reporters and Beirut Bureau Chief, Ghassan Ben Jeddou,
>> who told AP that the Prince was critical in the interview of the
>> American policy in the region, referring to it as "destructive." More
>> importantly, according to Ben Jeddou, Prince Hassan also mentioned that
>> a member of the Saudi Royal establishment is funding radical Sunni
>> insurgency in Lebanon to combat Iran's extension on the Mediterranean,
>> Hezbollah. The pieces of the puzzle seemed to come together when the AP
>> report further revealed that Ben Jeddou "identified the Saudi official
>> as Prince Bandar bin Sultan."
>>
>>
>> Information from the Crisis Group, a US-based organization that deals
>> with conflict resolution and prevention: Saad al-Hariri paid forty-eight
>> thousand dollars in bail for four members of an Islamic militant group
>> from Dinniyeh. The men had been arrested while trying to establish an
>> Islamic mini-state in northern Lebanon. He later used his parliamentary
>> majority to obtain amnesty for twenty-two of the Dinniyeh Islamists, as
>> well as for seven militants suspected of plotting to bomb the Italian
>> and Ukrainian embassies in Beirut, the previous year.
>>
>>
>> The Saniora government's granted Hizb ut-Tahrir a license to operate as
>> a Lebanese political party in May 2006. The interim Lebanese Interior
>> Minister at that time, Ahmad Fatfat, who granted Hizb ut-Tahrir a
>> license, released a statement to respond to critics in which he declared
>> that "it's not possible for freedom and democracy to be partial or
>> discretionary." It seems, however, that Mr. Fatfat has overlooked the
>> fact that freedom and democracy do not warrant legalizing the activity
>> of a group that plans to overthrow a democratic state's government or
>> limit the freedoms of its people. (Most Arab governments and monarchies
>> have actually banned its operation, except for Lebanon, the United Arab
>> Emirates and Yemen!)
>>
>>
>> According to a policy watch report by the Washington Institute of Near
>> East Policy, Hizb ut-Tahrir members partook in the violent attacks
>> against the Danish Embassy in Lebanon in February 2006 as they were
>> protesting against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad
>> by a Danish newspaper, which further debunks their claim of being
>> non-violent.
>>
>>
>> Visiting the official website of Hizb ut-Tahrir, one would notice that
>> this organization refers to a group of countries as Wilayas or
>> "districts" in the Muslim Caliphate. These countries include Australia,
>> Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan,
>> Syria, U.K., and Yemen. Explicitly stating that these countries are
>> "wilayas" or districts implicates Hizb ut-Tahrir in compromising the
>> sovereignty and territorial integrity of these states. In the case of
>> Lebanon, on May 16, 2006, Hizb ut-Tahrir held a press conference in
>> which their spokesperson called for "the implementation of the system of
>> just Islam in the country [Lebanon], uniting the entire community [as] a
>> caliphate country." Again, it is not clear how a group that calls for
>> changing the current form of Lebanon's government, dissolving its
>> borders, and integrating it into a larger Islamic "ummah," is legalized
>> by the Lebanese government and its activity ignored or justified under
>> the pretense of "freedom of speech" or democracy.
>>
>>
>> Could it be that Hizb ut-Tahrir has succeed in recruiting members of the
>> ruling Sunni elite in Lebanon, including the former interim Interior
>> Minister Faftat or Saad al Hariri or maybe even Fouad Saniora himself?
>> At this point, there is no evidence, but mere speculations.
ahh the Seymour Hersh article :)
you base your whole argumentation on him!!!
Good luck!!
One expression bothered me: "pseudo Muslim fanatics".
so why dont you ask seymour why was Chaker Abbssy (the leader of fateh al Islam) release from jail in syria, after only three years out of ten years (and you know how merciful Syrian jailor are, look at Kalo -the Syrian democratic dissident- who was sentenced to ten years just for speaking out against the regime!!! and he was sent with 200 members to Lebanon with weapons and funds supplied by Syrian intelligence?
fif
why did it bother you.
They are fanatics but without a cause... they were created, bred, sent, supported and ordered by syrian intelligence.
So for me they are pseudo islamists.
but anyways in all cases they must be dealt with and soon!!
Ok, I'm not arguing about who funded them, but when u say "fanatics" u must use an adjective for them, no? And it's AL-Absi, NOT Absi... :-p
fif
and that is why i used "pseudo-muslim" as an adjective for fanatics
about al absi i stand corrected :)
cheers
Bob,
Come on, do you have any proof Syria supports them?
Fatah intifada was supported by Syria (to eliminate Arafat forces and they succeeded).
That is Fatah Intifada not Fatah Islam.
As you know Fatah Intifada broke away from Fath Islam.
Plus don't forget about the US plan to create a Nato base in Northern Lebanon (aleiaat air base) under the pretext of having Al Qaeda. That was weeks ago LONG BEFORE these events started. Coincidence? I don't believe it.
sam
sry i m pretty disgusted and sad at the moment as another explosion just happened...
let s hope no one died.
we ll continue our futile and senseless discussion tomorrow
peace
Hi Bob,
I am new to your blog, and your views are very interesting...
I have a question about this situation:
I understand that from 1969 there is an agreement that the army is not allowed to get inside these camp.
do you know anything about that agreement? if the army can only surround these camps, would it be possible to eliminate this threat?
i wish you a peaceful day
-hamiltonian
The only hope is that our Lebanese army fight against terrorism, it should be deployed inside our cities to prevent any future reaction, they are well-trained people, I have faith in them .. our army is our only savior
Hi,
@sam
if Fatah al Islam is supported by the us-administration and the government, who conducts the army? Hizbullah?
hamitonian
yes the agreement is the Cairo accord that gave the PLO atthat time full control of the camps.
the situation has changed and i think the accords no longuer stands.
anyways it is well known that for example in the 80's amal (Hezbollah current ally) waged a fierce control war on the camps especially in Beirut and entered a few.
anyways what is stopping the army from entering the camps is not that agreement rather the whole Palestinian situation and its thorny ramification in the Arab world...
Khawwata
my feelings exactly.. we should put faith in the arm and the government... because without them we are only a bunch of militias...
Gregor
well said...
and if sam claims that fateh al islam are another al queda branch then they are a pretty nice branch cause their explosions have not been targeting civilians, strange for an organization that is set on killing as many civilians as possibles...
I never claimed Fateh is Al Queda branch, I claim it is a sunni fondamentalist movement that the US and the government where helping set up to create a counterweight to Hezbollah (actually even western media claims that).
Unfortunetly for the (ever) failing government that we have those sunnis oppose this pro US government not Hezbollah. If it wasn't dramatic this would be funny!
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