Is Lebanon facing a 'new breed' of Al Qaeda?

Little is known about Fatah al-Islam, but experts say it is similar to other militant groups inspired by Osama bin Laden.

By Nicholas Blanford | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the May 24, 2007 edition

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Nahr Al-Bared refugee camp, Lebanon - As the fight between Islamic militants Fatah al-Islam and Lebanese forces entered its fourth day Wednesday – with a cease-fire holding just long enough to allow many civilians to flee – little is known about the group that says it refuses to surrender.

Some observers say that the 200-300 fighters holed up inside Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, and seemingly preparing for a protracted battle with Lebanon's Army, are adherents of Osama bin Laden, part of a new generation of extremists tied to Al Qaeda.

But many of Lebanon's leading anti-Syrian politicians charge that this faction is little more than a tool of Syrian intelligence planted in Lebanon to wreak havoc and further destabilize the Western-backed government in Beirut.

"Either way, this group is Al Qaeda," says Amal Saad-Ghorayeb of the Carnegie Endowment's Middle East Center in Beirut. "Whoever supports this group does not detract from the fact that their ideology is Al Qaeda."

She adds that Fatah al-Islam is an example of the "new breed" of Al Qaeda, similar to Al Qaeda in Iraq, which was made famous by its first leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, before his death a year ago. "They are much more localized in aims and makeup like Al Qaeda in Iraq," she says.

Syria has denied any involvement with the group, arguing that it faces threats of its own from home-grown jihadi militants. There have been several shootouts and attacks in the past three years, including one on the US Embassy in Damascus, by suspected Islamic militants.

"Our forces have been after them, even through Interpol," Walid Muallem, Syria's foreign minister, said earlier this week. "We reject this organization. It does not serve the Palestinian cause, and it is not after liberating Palestine."

Still, the violent politics and shifting alliances and interests of the Middle East can produce strange bedfellows.

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