Posted on 11/27/2005 6:35:01 PM PST by Flavius
AIN EL-HILWEH, Lebanon, Nov 28 (Reuters) - On a quiet autumn night, a mosque loudspeaker shatters the silence in this poor Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.
"With all pride and grace, we announce to you the martyrdom of our mujahideen brothers Mohamed Ahmed al-Kurdi and Nidal Hussein Mustafa in the battlefields of jihad in Iraq," the speaker blares across the narrow streets of Ain el-Hilweh.
The deaths brought to three the number of residents from the camp killed in Iraq in November alone, making a total of five in the past four months.
Arab fighters have played a key role in Iraq's insurgency since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Militants led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi have been blamed for a relentless series of attacks, suicide bombings and beheadings.
The U.S. military has said that Zarqawi is trying to bring more foreign fighters into the country because many of his Iraqi associates have been rounded up or killed.
One man in Ain el-Hilweh -- a crowded maze of narrow alleyways where gunmen from rival Palestinian factions roam freely and clash sporadically -- is eager to follow Zarqawi.
The 36-year-old, who used the alias Abu Dujana, said he was counting the days to return to Iraq to join the "martyrs in the name of Islam". He made no effort to hide his loyalty to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
"(Bin Laden)...is the symbol of the mujahideen (holy fighters). Every religion has its symbol...and we as Sunnis and mujahideen have Sheikh Osama," Abu Dujana, who is a member of the Usbat al-Ansar militant group, told Reuters.
Usbat al-Ansar, which was founded by a Palestinian but now includes many Lebanese as members, follows the same strict version of Sunni Islam as bin Laden.
The group, which has a base in Ain el-Hilweh and openly admits links to bin Laden, says dozens of its members have joined the insurgency since the U.S.-led invasion.
"Usbat al-Ansar is offering military and logistical support to al Qaeda in all the battlegrounds of jihad including Iraq," said the group's spokesman, who called himself Abu Shareef.
READY TO GO
Ain el-Hilweh is the biggest of 12 Palestinian camps in Lebanon, where late leader Yasser Arafat's fighters were a main faction in the civil war that erupted in 1975. The U.N. says there are 45,000 registered refugees in the camp near the southern city of Sidon but residents put the number much higher.
The squalid camps are off limits to the Lebanese army and some Lebanese believe this has helped turn some of them into sanctuaries for criminals and Islamic militants.
Abu Dujana, a Lebanese citizen, joined Usbat al-Ansar when he was 18 and now lives in Ain el-Hilweh, where the walls are decked with posters of Arafat and members of Palestinian militant groups.
Poverty, gun culture, a lack of civil rights, and deep-seated anger over perceived U.S. bias towards Israel in the Middle East conflict have served to turn the camp into a breeding ground for militants such as Abu Dujana.
He went to Iraq five months ago and does not say when he came back but he is waiting for an order to return.
"All I ask is for God to allow me back to Iraq to fight our crusader enemies and those who do not rule by the word of God," said the bearded father of three, who was wearing a hip holster with a handgun under a green military jacket.
Militant groups such as al Qaeda say jihad is a religious duty for "every Muslim capable of bearing arms" when a Muslim land is invaded by "the enemies of God".
In October, the U.S. military said more than 300 foreign fighters, mostly Arabs, had been captured in Iraq since April.
"We went out to jihad in Iraq to defend the religion of God, if death comes along the way, it's no problem," Abu Dujana said.
He said he was nearly killed on several occasions while travelling through northern Iraq and in some parts of the south and west, where the United States has been fighting insurgents.
Usbat al-Ansar says fighters from Ain el-Hilweh were killed this month during U.S. air strikes, part of its Operation Steel Curtain to quell the insurgency in western Iraq.
"The Americans will be defeated in Iraq. The only thing that has caused the mujahideen some pain are the air strikes but American soldiers are only cowards," Abu Dujana said.
NO MOURNING
There are few tears in Ain el-Hilweh for the latest local men to die in Iraq. The relatives of Nidal Hussein Mustafa, a Palestinian who sold his falafel stand to pay for the trip to Iraq, welcome visitors with dates to celebrate his martyrdom.
His mother is not wearing the traditional black of mourning.
"I could not tell him to stay, I would have angered God. So I told him go," said Umm Mohamed, whose two other sons are also members of Usbat al-Ansar. One went to Iraq last month.
"I don't know whether I am happy or sad. I guess both, I am sad because I lost him and will never see him again and happy because he is in heaven," she said.
For Usbat al-Ansar spokesman Abu Shareef, who wears a black leather jacket over the traditional abaya dress, the "holy war" is set to continue for a long time.
"This conflict has no boundaries. Every Arab country that offers security, intelligence or logistical support for American troops in Iraq must and should be targeted."
He spoke few days after three Iraqi suicide bombers killed 60 people in three hotels in Jordan, a staunch U.S. ally.
I'll bet the Iraqis are just thrilled to have these bone-headed malcontents swarming to blow themselves up on their soil.
Careful what you ask for . . .
So sayeth the human cockroach as he gets sprayed.
We could save him the trip if someone will give us to coordinates to the camp.
Hell is getting crowded with so many islamofacists inbound.
Mess with the best....
Thats why we are in Iraq, operating a vacuum cleaner to suck in all of the terrorists who want to come and die.
We will accomodate them. This is just more good news.
Script:
Tango: I have come to offer my life to Allah
GI: Go ahead, pick up that AK 47 there!
Tango: ( picking up AK-47) Allah Ak-bar !!!
GI: Ka badaboom ( Double Tap ) The only mistake we been a makin' is not sending these Tangos back to the countries they came from....DOA, making liars of the MULAHS! There is no glory in this dying!
GI: Next!
Soon these stupid tangos will wise up and either stay home or come to the USA via Mexico and Canada. Be ready people!
About that score we have to settle with Lebanon...
Hey Akbar, we feel the same way. Come on down....Just realize it is your death we are talking about.
Its in these camps that Arafat was working on his 5th column.
Too seize Lebannon, Jordan, all the west bank, and eventually Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait.
A lot of the money sent by Saudi Arabia and other arab countries is not really because they crave the destruction of Israel, oh yes, they preach this in the mosques a lot, but the real reason is to keep the palestinians fighting the jews so they won't persue the 5th column instead.
If the saudi's are such buttbuddies with the palestinians, how come they booted 10s of thousands of them out of Saudi Arabia in the 1990's and refuse to let palestinians gain citizenship or work in the Kingdom? Facts the arab press never talks about.
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