YNET NEWS.com (AP): "LEBANESE MILITANT GROUP ISSUES STATEMENT" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "In the statement purportedly by Fatah Islam, the group said its leader, Shaker al-Absi, fled Lebanon in 2007 and went to Syria, where he was ambushed by Syrian security forces. They say al-Absi is a Palestinian linked to the late leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. He was sentenced to death in absentia in Jordan for his involvement in the 2002 murder of US diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman.") (Published December 9, 2008, 23:29)
Army expands patrols around Sidon after explosive device found
In the FWIW department, Debka notes that AQ leadership has bugged out of Iraa and into Lebanon - could be some truth in this reporting.