Nahr El-Bared fighters: U.S. protégé?
munaeem | 28 May, 2007 15:10
Lebanese authorities allegedly accuse Fatah al-Islam of having links to al-Qaeda and the Syrian government.
Fatah al-Islam is far from being an ordinary armed Palestinian faction. Indeed, it seems hardly to be Palestinian at all. Whereas a minority of its members may be Palestinian, the others - judging from those who have been killed, wounded or captured -- come from half a dozen Arab and Asian countries, some of them jihadi veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its parent body - or at least its inspiration - seems to be Al-Qaida.
The Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, one of Syria's most virulent critics, has alleged that Fatah al-Islam is a 'Syria's proxy,' while the exiled Abd al-Halim Khaddam, a former Syrian vice-president who now heads an opposition movement dedicated to the overthrow of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, has stated categorically that 'Syria is responsible.'
Proof, however, is lacking. Interrogation of captured members of Fatah al-Islam might yield some evidence of a Syrian connection but, for the moment at least, the evidence seems to point in quite another direction.
According to the U.S. investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, the U.S. and Saudi governments are covertly supporting Sunni groups like Fatah al-Islam as part of a policy against Iran and growing Shia influence in the Middle East.
In a recent interview with CNN International's “Your World Today”, Hersh also said groups like Fatah al-Islam are the result of Washington's underground policies.
Accusing the White House of “no longer acting rationally,” Hersh said: “We're in the business of supporting the Sunnis anywhere we can against the Shia… We're in the business of creating ... sectarian violence."
Some analysts believe that a group like Fatah al-Islam was initially tolerated, and perhaps even funded, by Lebanese Sunnis who may have seen in it the embryo of the militia they needed. They certainly longed to be able to demonstrate that they could stand up to the Shi 'is and to Syria.
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munaeem | 28 May, 2007 10:43
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Extreme helplessness of Palestinians
munaeem | 28 May, 2007 02:03
It seems that Palestinians are once again being pushed to the wall. As Israeli aircraft are pounding targets in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon Army with the active support of the United States is busy eliminating Palestinian ‘militants’ in the north of the country.
Israel has initiated the latest wave of atrocities against Palestinians on the pretext of firing of rockets from Gaza which killed a woman but the retaliatory attacks have led to the killing of dozens of Palestinians besides injury to many more.
And this is not the all. Israelis, true to their policy of targeted killings and humiliation of Palestinians, are openingly saying that the Hamas leadership and their buildings would be eliminated. Israel is also conducting raid to arrest Palestinian leadership and already its forces have detained 33 senior Hamas figures in the West Bank including Education Minister Nassereddin al-Shaer.
A number of top Palestinian leaders are already under arrest for the last over one year and the latest incident shows vulnerability of Palestinians. If senior people like Ministers are not safe than one can imagine the plight of ordinary people there. But Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has the audacity to justify the arrests saying they sent a message to the military branches of ‘terrorist organization’, forgetting that the Zionist state itself was indulging in worst kind of terrorism.
And in Lebanon, in the deadliest internal strife since the 1975-90 civil war, at least 80 people have been killed in fierce fighting between the army and Palestinian refugees. Regrettably, the Arab League is sleeping over the widening conflict to the detriment of the regional peace and stability. How durable peace can be achieved by elimination of Palestinians here and there to fulfil Western agenda.
The United Nations should take immediate notice of the situation, ensure cessation of hostilities and send monitors to implement the truce. Otherwise, the spilling of Palestinian blood would create more hatred and resentment and there would be more conflicts and tension in the Middle East.
