Posted on 03/01/2003 3:49:08 AM PST by kattracks
March 1 By Ali Hashisho
AIN EL-HILWEH, Lebanon (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded inside Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp on Saturday, killing an Egyptian Islamist who was heading to a mosque to pray, camp security sources said.
The sources said the man identified as Abu Mohammad al-Masri, an Afghan war veteran who came to Ain el-Hilweh six years ago and has never left, was killed as he left his bean shop to walk to the mosque to pray.
The mosque was frequented by members of Osbat al-Ansar, a militant group on Washington's list of "terrorist" organizations suspected of links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
"The dead man was targeted personally," said Sheikh Jamal Khattab, an Islamist leader in the southern Ain el-Hilweh camp, although he could not say if the man was a member of Osbat al-Ansar.
Palestinian security sources said the attacker had driven a Beirut-registered explosives-laden car into the camp in the middle of the night. They said they believed the device was timed to explode as Masri arrived to pray.
A previously unknown group calling itself Youth of the Armed Struggle claimed responsibility for the attack in a faxed statement sent to Reuters, saying Masri was a member of Jamaat an-Nour, thought to be an offshoot of Osbat al-Ansar.
"We decided to cut off the head of the snake in a first step that the Youth of the Armed Struggle will take to cleanse the camp of all suspect elements that were planted in the camp, and which started to sabotage camp security," the statement said.
The fax blamed Jamaat an-Nour for a string of bomb attacks in Ain el-Hilweh and for threats against prominent Palestinians in the camp.
But Islamists in Ain el-Hilweh, near the port city of Sidon, quickly blamed Israel for the attack, saying an Israeli reconnaissance plane had hovered overhead prior to the bombing.
A senior Lebanese army official confirmed an Israeli plane had flown over Sidon Friday, but said there was no reason to believe the two events were related.
A string of bombings has ripped through Ain el-Hilweh in recent months, where tensions have been high since Islamic militants clashed with fighters loyal to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction in August, killing three people.
Lebanese politicians hostile to some 350,000 Palestinian refugees registered in about a dozen camps across Lebanon point to Ain el-Hilweh as a haven for militants and organized crime.
At any rate, it's a good hit.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.