Monday, May 21, 2007
we clap back:
THFTNR buddy Chris Allbritton has a great exploration of Fatah al-Islam, the Palestinian al-Qaeda affiliate currently fighting a pitched battle with Lebanese security forces in Tripoli and outside Chris's place in Beirut. Several of Chris's sources view FaI as a Syrian proxy, "imitation al-Qaeda, a 'Made in Syria' one":
Al Abssi used to be a member of the main Palestinian faction, Fatah, founded by former PLO chairman Yassir Arafat. He later joined Fatah al-Intifada, a fake group set up by Syria in an attempt to turn Palestinians’ national yearnings to Syria’s advantage. But with little support among the Palestinian population, which by and large stayed loyal to homegrown groups such as Fatah and Hamas, Fatah al-Intifada languished. Last year, in a bid to strike out on his own, (journalist Kassem) Kassir said, Al Abssi split and formed Fatah al-Islam.

It was possibly a natural split, he said, because Al Abssi is a Jordanian of Palestinian descent with ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, who was killed last year. Today he gets money and men from Salafist groups in the Gulf, Iraq and Jordan who share his jihadist view of an Islamic caliphate stretching from Morocco to Indonesia.

--Spencer Ackerman
I'm curious to know if Fatah al-Islam is one of the Cheney/Saudi government approved gangs Hersh wrote about.
Blogger markg8 | 10:36 AM