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Fighting between the Lebanese army and Islamist gunmen flared again on Wednesday as their deadly standoff entered its 11th day and aid workers sent in more supplies to stranded civilians. According to AFP, the army reported several exchanges of fire on Wednesday but without any fresh casualties at Nahr al-Bared camp. The militants "holed up on the rooftops of apartment buildings, opened fire several times at positions set up on the perimetre of the camp by the army, which responded with cannon fire", an army spokesman said. On Tuesday, a Lebanese soldier was killed in a firefight, bringing to 79...

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat- Terrorism inspired by religious fanaticism was always considered a frightening myth that many in Lebanon refused to acknowledge despite all warnings that indicated otherwise. However, the myth became a reality with the confrontation between the militant Fatah al-Islam group and the Lebanese army currently taking place at Nahr al Bared and Tripoli in northern Lebanon. The clash at the camp is the bloodiest internal conflict in Lebanon since the civil war ended 17 years ago, and poses a long term threat to Lebanon's internal security. Fatah al Islam is not the forerunner of violent extremism in Lebanon....

A purported leader of the militant Fatah al-Islam group, which has been battling the Lebanese army in a Palestinian refugee camp, vowed on Saturday to fight "the Americans and the Jews". Al Jazeera television, which broadcast the videotaped message, identified the man as Shaker al-Abssi and said it was the Palestinian's first public appearance. "We say to you, the guardians of the American project, the Sunni people will be leaders in fighting the Jews, the Americans and their loyalists," Abssi said, referring to Lebanese leaders.

In an interview with the London daily Al-Hayat, the military commander of the Fath Al-Islam organization, Shihab Al-Qaddour, also known as Abu Hurieira, threatened that if attacks by the Lebanese military against his organization continued, "all fronts will be opened" and that Fath Al-Islam would be "ready to blow up every place in Lebanon." He also noted that his organization's activists were prepared for a battle lasting two years or more. Al-Qaddour, 36, from the village of Mishmish in the sub-district of Akkar in northern Lebanon, is considered the No. 2 man in Fath Al-Islam, after the leader Shaker Al-'Absi....

Nahr al-Bared Unraveling: Fatah al-Islam In a renewed bout of violence after a temporary ceasefire on May 22, Lebanon finds itself engulfed in its sixth day of conflict pitting the Lebanese Armed Forces against radical militant group, Fatah al-Islam. In the fighting that started on May 20, approximately 22 to 55 combatants and around 27 civilians have died, while the Red Cross estimates that 13,000 to 15,000 refugees have fled, most to neighboring Badawi camp. The fighting began when Lebanese security forces tried to arrest Fatah al-Islam members who were suspected of a bank robbery on the outskirts of the...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Military aid began arriving Friday after the United States said it will rush supplies to the Lebanese army fighting al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants barricaded inside a Palestinian refugee camp in the country's north. Meanwhile, sporadic gunfire exchanges early Friday punctured the lull in the fighting as the Lebanese army continued to build up around the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp near the port city of Tripoli. Although U.S. officials said the military aid to Lebanon had been agreed to before the fighting broke out this week, the speedy shipment Friday marked the first tangible U.S. backing of the Lebanese...

Four Palestinians killed near Syria-Iraq border http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=55463 (May 11 2007) Ten wounded in Gaza clash; defiant Hamas TV airs resistance Mickey Mouse NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon/GAZA: Syrian forces have killed four members of Palestinian group Fatah al-Islam trying to sneak across the border to join the insurgency in Iraq, the group said on Friday. A spokesman for Fatah al-Islam, who gave his name as Abu Salim, told AFP that the incident occurred on the Syrian border with Iraq almost a week ago, and that five Syrian soldiers were killed in the clash. “The Syrian forces killed two military chiefs of Fatah...

Fatah Islam vows to fight each & every "crusader"...

Militants 'will fight to the last drop of blood' By Harry de Quetteville in Shatila camp, Beirut Last Updated: 1:20am BST 25/05/2007 Islamic militants besieged inside a refugee camp in Lebanon will fight "to the last drop of blood", supporters of their leader said yesterday. Some of the refugees who left the Nahr al-Bared camp. Thousands remain trapped inside as the militants threaten to fight on The warning came as Lebanese troops clashed again with the Fatah al-Islam fighters led by Shaker al-Absi in the Nahr al-Bared camp on the outskirts of Tripoli. Al-Absi, a 52-year-old jet pilot turned Islamic...

Fatah al-Islam's No. 2 man and son-in-law of the extremist group's leader Shaker Absi has been reportedly wounded during clashes with Lebanese troops in the northern refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared. The daily An Nahar did not identify Absi's relative, but said his foot was blown off in the fighting. It said 13 other Fatah al-Islam militants were shot and killed by Lebanese army fire as they tried to flee Nahr al-Bared by boat to the southern refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh. An Nahar said other Fatah al-Islam fighters were arrested and handed over to the intelligence bureau. The...

Lebanese troops killed a militant from the extremist Fatah al-Islam during a house raid in the northern port city of Tripoli, police said. They said Bilal Drakish, also known as Abu Jandal, was shot dead on Wednesday as he prepared to throw a grenade at a unit of security forces raiding an apartment in Tripoli's northern neighborhood of Tibanneh. Police said the security forces had been pursuing Drakish who tried to throw a hand grenade at them but was fatally shot before he could trigger it. State-run National News Agency said two passers-by were wounded in the exchange and...

Excerpt - BEIRUT, May 23 (Reuters) - An explosion at a Druze town east of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday wounded at least four people, security sources said. The blast in Aley, which lies near the Beirut-Damascus road, caused damage to nearby shops and buildings, one security source said. ~ snip ~

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 5/22/07 - Ein el-Hilweh, Nahr al-Bared, Verdun Beirut BREAKING: Nahr al-Bared 'Palestinian'-al Qaeda terrorist camp under seige by Lebanese soldiers BREAKING: Verdun Beirut shopping center - evening explosion BREAKING: Ein el-Hilweh terrorist camp - PLO 'Palestinian' terrorist camp QFN ==== YE OLDE QUAGMIRE-FREE NEWS Exclusive to FReerepublic PICTURES YOU WILL NOT SEE IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ========= Nahr al-Bared 'Palestinian' terrorist camp ========= At the Nahr al-Bared 'Palestinian'-al Qaeda terrorist camp Lebanese soldiers continue to free the city on day three and assault the al Qaeda in their 'safe house'. The Lebanese...

The Lebanese government has authorized the army to "finish off" Islamic militants fighting Lebanese troops for the third straight day Tuesday in a refugee camp in the country's north. The decision by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora reflected the government's determination to pursue the Islamic militants who staged attacks on Lebanese troops on Sunday and Monday, killing 29 soldiers. Some 20 militants have also been killed, as well as an undetermined number of civilians.

TRIPOLI: Deep in a violent and lawless slum just north of this coastal city, 12 men with their faces shrouded by black and red-and-white scarves drilled with Kalashnikovs. In unison, they lunged in one direction, turned and lunged in another. "Allahu Akbar," the men shouted their praise to God as they fired their machine guns into a wall. The men belong to a new militant Islamic organization called Fatah al-Islam, whose leader, a fugitive Palestinian named Shakir al-Abssi, has set up operations in a refugee camp here where he is training fighters and spreading the ideology of Al Qaeda. He...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon, May 20 — Fierce clashes erupted between Lebanese Army soldiers and Islamic militants in the vicinity of a Palestinian refugee camp here on Sunday, leaving 22 Lebanese soldiers and 17 militants dead and dozens injured in one of the most significant challenges to the army since the end of Lebanon’s bloody civil war. The confrontation with the Islamist group, Fatah al-Islam, raised fears of a wider battle to rout militants in the rest of Lebanon’s 12 refugee camps, where radical Islam has been gaining in recent years. That, in turn, raised the possibility of a deadly conclusion to...

Bearded young Palestinians parade with rocket-launchers during training in north Lebanon organized by Fatah al-Islam, a tiny group accused of terror attacks. The new recruits also carry assault rifles and heavy machine guns as they march alongside militant Abu Salim, who hides his face under a red-and-white headscarf. "Our main objective is to combat the Jews in Palestine. We want to plant the banner of Islam in Palestine," Abu Salim told Agence France Presse. He said Fatah al-Islam "offers military training to young Palestinians" in a field near the sea at the Nahr al-Bared camp that houses about 22,000 refugees....

Leader of Lebanon's al-Qaeda cell pledges to strike America again SOUAD MEKHENNET AND MICHAEL MOSS IN TRIPOLI, LEBANON DEEP in a violent and lawless slum just north of the Lebanese coastal city of Tripoli, 12 men whose faces were shrouded by scarves drilled with Kalashnikovs. In unison, they lunged in one direction, turned and lunged in another. "Allah-u akbar," the men shouted in praise to God as they fired their machine guns into a wall. The men belong to a new militant Islamic organisation called Fatah al Islam. Its leader, fugitive Palestinian Shakir al-Abssi, has set up operations in a...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon — Deep in a violent and lawless slum just north of this coastal city, 12 men whose faces were shrouded by scarves drilled with Kalashnikovs. In unison, they lunged in one direction, turned and lunged in another. “Allah-u akbar,” the men shouted in praise to God as they fired their machine guns into a wall. The men belong to a new militant Islamic organization called Fatah al Islam, whose leader, a fugitive Palestinian named Shakir al-Abssi, has set up operations in a refugee camp here where he trains fighters and spreads the ideology of Al Qaeda. He has...