A terror suspect deported from Britain has been defending Al Qaeda and blaming Syria for the violence in Lebanon.

Omar Bakri Mohammad was expelled from the UK, and given safe haven in Lebanon. He is originally Syrian but had to flee Syria for similar reasons. He has finally found a home in Lebanon.

He is accused of inciting terrorism in Britain, and now says Al Qaeda-linked Fateh Al Islam is innocent, and that Syria is behind the attacks.

What a great friend to have, ay Hariri? Well, he is your guest I guess.

Labels: Britain, Fateh Al Islam, Lebanon

Lebanon's Information Minister Ghazi Aridi says Fateh Al Islam are to blame for the murder of 6 UN peacekeepers.

"There is a link between the attack which targeted the Spanish contingent of UNIFIL and the combat between the Lebanese army and the terrorists of Fatah al-Islam in Nahr al-Bared,"

On Sunday, Fateh Al Islam spread their fight outside the Nahr Al Bared camp for the first time - killing a dozen people in Tripoli. Just hours later, they killed 6 UN peacekeepers miles away, in the south of Lebanon.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, UN

A bomb has killed 5 UN peacekeepers near the Israeli border.

3 of the victims were Colombian, 2 were Spanish.

Fateh Al Islam have been threatening to target UN troops, and the Lebanese government says members who have been arrested have confessed to a plan to kill peacekeepers.

It happened in the south, in a clear attempt to frame Hizbollah - arch enemies of Fateh Al Islam. It comes just days after rockets were fired from south Lebanon into Israel - a Hizbollah tactic in last summer's war. But Israel and Hizbollah both say a Palestinian group was behind this attack.

Fateh Al Islam was created last year, after breaking away from a pro-Syrian group. It was funded by Hariri to act as a counterbalance to Hizbollah.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Hariri Militia, Hizbollah, Israel, UN

Ten people have died after clashes between Fateh Al Islam and the Lebanese Army, in Lebanon's second city.

It comes forty-eight hours after the government declared the battle over.

The fighting has now spread out of the Nahr Al Bared camp and into the neary city of Tripoli.

Two civilians, one soldier, a policeman and at six Fateh Al Islam members are dead. It happened when the Army raided an apartment in the Abu Samra district of the city.

Syria has closed all borders with Lebanon as fears grow that the fighting will escalate and spread across Lebanon and overflow into Syria. Only the Masnaa crossing - on the Beirut-Damascus highway - is open. But there are long queues as people fear that crossing will soon be closed.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Lebanese Forces, Syria-Lebanon border

Two rockets have been fired from Lebanon into Israel.

But both Hizbollah and Israel say it wasn't Hizbollah which did it.

Israel is blaming Palestinian groups inside Lebanon: "It seems that it was Palestinians, not Hezbollah," and Israel thinks it was aimed at getting Israel to attack Hizbollah in retailiation. Israel insists it will "not be drawn in".

Could it be allies of Fateh Al Islam trying to get Israel to attack their arch-enemies* Hizbollah, and force the Lebanese Army to halt their assault on the Nahr Al Bared camp?

(*Fateh Al Islam claim they are defending the Sunnis, and Abu Musab Al Zarqawi - who was close to Fateh Al Islam's leaders - accused Hizbollah of 'protecting' Israel because they didn't allow Al Qaeda-linked groups to attack Israel from South Lebanon.)

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Hizbollah, Israel

At least eight people, including Walid Eido - a Mustaqbal MP - has been killed in a car bomb in Manara, on the Beirut corniche.

The explosion in Hamra is one of the biggest since Rafiq Al Hariri was killed 2 years ago. It happened at 5.30pm between two beach resorts: the Long Beach and the Sporting Club.

It is the latest in a series of attacks since the Lebanese Army began fighting Fateh Al Islam militants in northern Lebanon. Fateh Al Islam has been threatening to spread the violence across the country. There have been six identical bomb attacks in the past month, most in Beirut.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Lebanon

Is Emile Lahoud, as President of Lebanon, the nominal head of the Lebanese Army? (In a similar way to US President Bush being Commander in Chief of the US Army?)

If - as I suspect - he is, it is interesting that he has not intervened in the Nahr Al Bared bombardment. He seems to be giving his tacit support to Hariri's war on the refugee camp.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Lebanon

One person has been killed by a car bomb in an industrial area of Beirut.

It happened in the industrial area of Zouk Mosbeh, 20km north of Beirut - 3 others were injured, and police say it would've been higher if it happened in the daytime.

It comes just days after Hariri-funded militant group Fateh Al Islam vowed to spread its fight across Lebanon.

Fateh Al Islam is currently battling the Lebanese Army in Nahr Al Bared in the north of Lebanon. A related group, Jund Ash Sham - which is responsible for dozens of attacks inside Syria - began fighting soldiers in the south of Lebanon this week.

Four bombs have exploded since the civil fighting began.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Hariri Militia

A bomb has exploded on a bus in Beirut injuring seven people.

Meanwhile, two soldiers have died as Jund Ash Sham attack Army positions in the Ein Al Helwa camp near Sidon.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, jund Ash Sham, Lebanon

Hizbollah is tacitly backing the Lebanese army's attempts to destroy Al Qaeda inspired Fateh Al Islam.

They have many reasons for this stance: Fateh Al Islam's stated goal is to defend the Sunnis, against what they perceive as the heretical Shias represented by Hizbollah. Fateh Al Islam is also dangerously anti-Syrian - they have carried out a number of bombings across Syria in recent years.

Hizbollah and the Lebanese army have found their own specialisms: Hizbollah targets external threats, while promising never to target a fellow Lebanese. The Lebanese army, meanwhile, targets internal threats, while remaining neutral in the face of external threats (the army was ordered not to shoot during Israel's attacks last summer).

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Hizbollah, Israel, Lebanon

The third explosion in four days has hit a town east of Beirut.

5 people have been injured in the blast in the Druze town of Aley. It was in a suitcase in the entrance of a residential building.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Lebanon

Fateh Al Islam has accepted a government offer of a ceasefire.

They say they will stop attacks if the army does not attack them. The army has responded by saying they never fire first.

Humanitarian organisations say it's vital to have a break in fighting to get food and water to the 40,000 refugees trapped inside the camp.

Residents say there are dead bodies all over the streets, and wounded people are also lying on the roads, unable to get help. No-one can leave the camp because the soldiers have blocked the entrances.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Lebanon

9 more people have been killed as the Army fights Al Qaeda linked group Fateh Al Islam.

Schools and shops have been shut as fighting spreads outside the Nahr Al Bared refugee camp.

40,000 people are trapped inside the camp, which has been blocked by the Army.

Fateh Al Islam accuses the Army of attacking indiscriminately, and is threatening to start attacks outside the camp - in Tripoli. The group is accused of a bus bombing in February, near Beirut, which killed 3 people.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Lebanon

The death toll keeps rising. 48 now dead. Many more injured. And far more trapped inside the camp.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Lebanon

At least 38 people are now dead in fighting between Lebanese soldiers and Al Qaeda linked militants.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Lebanon

At least 24 people are confirmed dead in the worst civil fighting in Lebanon for 16 years.

At least 40 others have called Al Jazeera to say they are trapped inside the camp by the Lebanese Army, and are not being allowed to leave to seek medicial treatment, in scenes reminscent of the Phalange siege of the Sabra and Chatilla camps.

29 people have been taken to hospital. 13 Lebanese soldiers are among the dead, and 10 Fateh Al Islam fighters. At least 1 civilian has died.

Fateh Al Islam is linked to Al Qaeda. It is alleged that the Siniora government has been funding Al Qaeda linked groups, like the anti-Syrian Fateh Al Islam. Fateh Al Islam is blamed for the February bus bombing which killed 3 people.

There is a lot of unwritten stuff between the lines of today's violence.

Labels: Fateh Al Islam, Lebanon, Terrorism