Fatah al Islam: Arabic For Another Syrian Front

By. Phillip

There has been a recently repeated theory that claims that Fatah al Islam is somehow an organization with close ties to al Qaeda. Granted, Fatah al Islam does show Islamist tendencies, such as having a leader, Sheik Shaker Al-'Absi, a man sentenced in absentia to death by Jordanian authorities for the murder of an American diplomat. However, there is overwhelming evidence linking Fatah al Islam to Syria.

Journalist, Nicholas Blanford reported in Time that, “Fatah al-Islam, the group battling the army, has dominated much of the news in Lebanon since it first declared its existence late last year, splitting from Fatah al-Intifadeh, a pro-Syrian Palestinian faction that is headquartered in Damascus.” One must remember that Fatah Intifada was created by the Syrian regime as a Palestinian counter organization to Yasser Arafat and the PLO during the Lebanese Civil War. In addition Fatah Intifada is widely considered just another Syrian proxy (such as the PFLP-GC), and has its headquarters in Damascus.

Recently, in May of 2006 Fatah Initifada was used to stir the Lebanese pot when they attacked the Lebanese army. It isn’t just coincidence that both Fatah Intifadah and Fatah al Islam both have a knack for starting problems by attacking the Lebanese Army. When the Lebanese Army encircled Fatah Intifada last May it was in response to provocative action taken by the group. After Fatah al Islam’s bank robbery there were subsequent raids by the Lebanese Police and Army. Fatah al Islam retaliated by attacking Lebanese Army posts and killing 27 soldiers.

Other Connections:
• Not so ironically, Fatah al Islam launched its attacks on the Lebanese Army during a time when the UN was just beginning a tribunal on the assassination of Rafik Hariri. Any tribunal was expected to call Syrian officials, up to and including President Bashar Asad.
• Fatah al Islam has not attacked any pro-Syrian groups. Many Islamists, especially the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood regard the ruling Alawite minority as apostates. If Fatah al Islam was a true Islamist group, would it not seek to attack them (Syria and many of its proxies are secular) too?

The current spate of assassinations and bombings is obviously due to Asad’s hand. The bombings that occurred in Aley, Achrafieh, and Verdun were more than just operations designed to sew terror in the hearts of average Lebanese, just remember this:

• Aley: in the Druze heartland, not to mention a location where there is a strong PSP
(MP Walid Jumblatt’s party) influence. While Jumblatt has been known to engage in unabashed realpolitik, even before the Cedar Revolution of 2005 he’s been a staunch critic of Syria and a leading member in the March 14th Alliance.
• Verdun: known for being quite luxurious part of Beirut. While being a mixed neighborhood (Nabi Berri owned a residence near to where the Verdun blast occurred) is generally considered to be within another anti-Syrian party’s sphere of influence, the Sunni, Future Movement. This was a message aimed at shaking Saad Hariri, leader of the Future movement and son of slain former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri.
• Achrafieh: A Christian part of Beirut, the bombing of a shopping mall in this area had much to do with threatening the Christian base of anti-Syrian coalition. This more specifically targeted parties such as Samir Geagea’s Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party.
• Most of the explosions were small, often in areas frequented by the public (such as shopping malls) but often in off hours. One of the few bombings to have a large death toll was the Walid Eido assassination, which killed 10 others in the process.

The Syrian Mukhabarat is sending a very blunt message to the anti-Syrian parties: Keep defying Damascus and you will get more bombs. This was the same message sent by Syria following the anti-Syrian protests of March 14th. Syria’s bombing campaign included targets (as the bombing campaign has recently) such as anti-Syrian journalists, politicians, and areas where anti-Syrian confessional groups (ie. Druze, Christians, and pro-Hariri Sunnis) reside:

• Assassinations of fervently anti-Syrian politician Gebran Tueni and journalist Samir Kassir. This also includes the assassination attempt on LBC journalist (and candidate for a Maronite seat in the Baabda-Aley district) May Chidac.
• The bombings used small amounts of explosive (ranging from 1- around 50lbs).
• The same style of targets as the current bombing spate were hit, such as a shopping mall in the Christian neighborhood of Zalka.

Walid Eido and Destroying the Majority

After the June 14th murder Walid Eido, a Lebanese friend mentioned to me, “just four more to go.” I asked him what he meant by that and the answer I received was quite startling (I am paraphrasing here), “The Syrians just need to kill 4 more parliamentarians with March 14th, then they [March 14th and other anti-Syrians] won’t have the majority.” Whittling down on the anti-Syrian political majority is most definitely a goal of Damascus. The number of anti-Syrians has now gone down to 68 from 72, if the number goes down to 64 then pro-Syrian elements in Lebanon will undercut the Siniora’s government. Lebanon’s current president, pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud has his term is set to expire on September 25, 2007. Because Lebanon’s president is elected via the parliament, a pro-Syrian majority is a goal desired by Damascus in order to control Lebanon’s presidency.

Useful links on mentioned topics:
BBC Fatah al Islam
ABC: What is Fatah al Islam?

© Copyright http://arzeljabal.blogspot.com/; June 16, 2007