Under pressure, Palestinian groups take on Al Qaeda

The US war on terror has won some unlikely – and unintentional – allies in this teeming Palestinian refugee camp. Several Palestinian groups, including some classified as terrorist organizations by the United States, have agreed among themselves to confront a tiny band of Al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels.

In the wake of the worst fighting this volatile camp has seen in 10 years, fighters from the Fatah faction of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are set to storm the rebels' stronghold in Ain al-Hilweh unless the Islamists hand themselves over to the Lebanese authorities. It will be the first time that Fatah has directly taken on Al Qaeda terrorists since the "war on terror" began.

The 10 to 15 Islamist rebels have been hiding in Ain al-Hilweh since the Lebanese Army crushed an Islamic rebellion in the mountainous Dinnieh district of northern Lebanon in January 2000.

The so-called Dinnieh insurgents, who face lengthy prison sentences and possibly the death penalty at the hands of the Lebanese, have so far refused to surrender themselves, and a showdown looks imminent.

The crisis peaked Tuesday when a group of Dinnieh rebels attacked a checkpoint manned by Fatah fighters. The 45-minute gun battle left at least two people dead and seven wounded.

For Khaled Aref, the head of Fatah in the camp, this was the last straw. "We have no choice but to get rid of these people," he says. "The nationalist and Islamic forces in the camp are united in condemning the attack and in wanting these people turned over to the Lebanese authorities." He adds that Arafat has given instructions that force should be used against the Dinnieh rebels if they refuse to surrender.

The confrontation between the Palestinian groups and the Dinnieh insurgents shows how some Islamic groups have reassessed their priorities and loyalties since Sept. 11. In the months following the attacks, Mideast states, including Lebanon, have been under pressure from the US to combat Al Qaeda militants operating within their borders.

Thus, under pressure from the Lebanese government, the camp's Palestinian factions have concluded that there is no alternative but to deal with the Dinnieh militants once and for all, even if it means bloodshed.

Five of the 13 Palestinian groups represented in Ain al-Hilweh are Islamic. Though they have little reason to aid the US in its international hunt for members of Al Qaeda, Islamic organizations recognize that it does not serve their interests to defend the Dinnieh rebels.

The group Esbat al-Ansar, however, once supported the Dinnieh rebels and follows the same Islamic ideology as Osama bin Laden. But the new realities brought about by the fallout from the "war on terror" appear to have persuaded the group's leaders to switch sides to save themselves from the destruction faced by their former Islamist allies.

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