Posted on 05/22/2007 3:38:08 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
TRIPOLI, Lebanon - The militants began trickling into the camp about 10 months ago, distinguished by their beards, combat uniforms and the assault rifles they carried openly. They rarely smiled and spoke only to rebuke camp residents for smoking or other perceived "sins" against Islam.
Residents of the Nahr el-Bared camp and surrounding areas on Tuesday described the men of the Fatah Islam militant group at the heart of the fighting as deeply religious and reclusive, rarely associating with those who lived there.
Some roamed about with Kalashnikov rifles, wearing traditional Arab robes and beards without mustaches, a trademark of Muslim fundamentalists.
They seldom spoke, except to show their dismay when camp residents pasted posters of their dead sons on the walls or when they smoked — acts that were rebuked as being "haram," or against religion.
"They used to look down at the ground when women talked to them," said Ibrahim Issa Dawoud, a 42-year-old taxi driver.
Dawoud, who left the camp with his wife and six children during a temporary truce Tuesday, said the militants came in small groups and eventually included Palestinians as well as fighters from Lebanon, Pakistan, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
He said they came in through Lebanese army positions at the camp's entrance.
"How did they come in? Did they parachute into the camp? They came from certain countries and they were allowed into the camp," he said.
Dawoud said in the beginning there were 100 to 200 militants but he now believes there may be more than 1,000 in the camp.
Omar el-Eter, a Lebanese teacher and the imam of a mosque, who frequently visited the Nahr el-Bared camp to see friends, said the men did not have jobs.
"They only went to the mosque and carried guns. But they also had money to spend," he said. "They only used dollars."
El-Eter lives about a mile from the camp. He, like many others in the area, often shopped there because of the cheaper merchandise and the savvy businessmen who traded in food, cloth and other goods.
"You will not find better businessmen in the whole of the north than the Palestinians of Nahr el-Bared," el-Eter said.
But that stopped a few months ago. In March, the government accused Fatah Islam of being behind Feb. 13 bus bombings east of Beirut that killed three people and wounded around 20 others.
Immediately after the bombing, the Lebanese army set up checkpoints at the camp's entrances and restricted the movement of residents going in and out. The new security measures discouraged Lebanese shoppers and visitors from frequenting the camp.
Mohammed el-Eter, Omar's uncle, said the arrival of Fatah Islam militants at the camp brought a shift in power.
"When they arrived in the camp, a coup of sort occurred," he said. "They took over from Fatah Uprising (another Palestinian group), disarmed them and took over their positions."
"They started making life difficult for the camp residents by erecting checkpoints and searching people," he said.
He said he was told by other camp residents that they could see the militants training on the camp's outskirts. "But I never saw them myself," he said.
Amina Alameddine, a 50-year-old Lebanese woman, fled her home on the edge of the camp Tuesday with her daughter, daughter-in-law and three children after three fighters took up positions on the roof of her house.
"I tried to reason with them, but they didn't respond. One only of them said something in classical Arabic, but I didn't understand what he said," she told a reporter outside the camp.
"We ran under the shells, bullets were falling between our feet," she said. "I heard them say that if they kill Lebanese army soldiers, they would go to heaven."
OK, so the question is, who is paying the bills? It takes a lot of oil money to pay the tab for all these professional jihadists, so it must be state supported.
I thought that was the kind of link that President Bush proposed to disrupt after 9/11.
Dear Lebanon.... Welcome to the party pal.
Not just militants, but armed militants. Seems like any series militant would be armed.
Not to mention the hugh ones! :)
I wonder how many of these “camps” we have here already.
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