A militant who defies cease-fire

Moqdah said he formed the original Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in 1997 - known then as simply the Al Aqsa Brigade - naming a batch of freshly graduated fighters in Ain al-Hilweh after the Jerusalem mosque, Islam's third-holiest site.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, mainly composed of young militants from Yasser Arafat's Fatah and consisting of several different factions, came to public attention after the start of the intifada in September 2000. Moqdah says he established his network in the West Bank and Gaza at the onset of the intifada, using his followers who had accompanied Mr. Arafat from exile in Tunis to the Palestinian territories in 1994.

Although nominally a colonel in Arafat's Fatah faction, Moqdah's rejection of the cease-fire places him in direct confrontation with the PA. Last week, Fatah formally relieved Moqdah of his command in Ain al-Hilweh, allegedly over his refusal to support Fatah in clashes in the camp against extremist Islamist factions.

Analysts believe the real intention behind Fatah's decision was to undermine Moqdah's power base in Ain al-Hilweh ahead of the expected cease-fire agreement.

"I don't believe in this truce at all," Moqdah says. "It won't last and the resistance will continue.... We are bored with all the promises and guarantees of the American administration. We have heard it all before and it has got us nowhere. We want liberation and independence and to be able to live in freedom and dignity."

Mounir Moqdah's rejection of the Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire has made him a potential enemy of the Palestinian Authority. But it is not the first time that this fiery guerrilla fighter has been at odds with the mainstream Palestinian authorities.

A soft-spoken and lanky 43-year-old, only the automatic pistol on his hip and his military fatigues hint at his profession. His family is from the village of Al-Ghabissieh near Acre in northern Israel. His grandfather fled Palestine in 1948 during the Arab-Israeli war that created the state of Israel.

Mr. Moqdah joined the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1970 at age 10, and swiftly rose up the ranks to become a commander in Yasser Arafat's elite Force 17. Moqdah split from Mr. Arafat over the signing of the Oslo Accords in September 1993, although he retained his official status and rank within Fatah. Along with his supporters and disaffected Fatah members in Ain al-Hilweh, he formed the Black September 13 Brigades and grew to become the dominant military force in the camp.

Sentenced to death in absentia by Lebanon and Jordan, Moqdah lives permanently in Ain al-Hilweh, which, although ringed by Lebanese Army troops, lies beyond the jurisdiction of the Lebanese government.

He has been subject to numerous assassination attempts by the Israelis. In April 1996, he narrowly survived a missile attack on his headquarters by Israeli helicopter gunships. He says the most recent attempt by the Israelis to kill him occurred two years ago, when Israeli agents placed poison in one of his shoes while he was praying in a mosque in the camp.

"I saw this spot in my shoe and I was suspicious," he says. The substance was sent for analysis initially in Lebanon then to France. "The Lebanese didn't know what it was, but the French recognized it as a poison. It was the same poison Mossad used against Khaled Meshaal," he says, referring to a bungled attempt by Israeli Mossad agents to assassinate the head of the Hamas politburo in Jordan by pouring poison into his ear.

The Mossad agents were caught by Jordanian police, sparking a diplomatic row. The Israelis were forced to hand over the antidote to save the dying Meshaal in exchange for the release of the Mossad agents.

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