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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanese anti-Syria figures threatened

2014-01-06

[Al Ahram] Several prominent Lebanese politicians and media figures opposed to Syria's regime and its ally Hezbollah have been threatened, the official National News Agency reported on Sunday. The report comes less than a fortnight after a boom-mobileing in central Beirut killed eight people including anti-Syria former finance minister and member of the March 14 coalition Mohammad Shatah. The NNA said Sethrida Geagea, a Christian member of parliament, March 14 member and wife of Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... chief Samir Geagea ... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ... , had a series of threats sent to her mobile phone. "At 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) on January 4, Sethrida Geagea MP started receiving calls on her mobile phone from several local, international and hidden numbers," the agency said, quoting the politician's media office. A statement said Geagea's colleagues answered the calls, and heard "personal threats against her life, insults and obscenities". More such calls came on Sunday, the NNA said. The threats were reported to the security forces, whom Geagea's office said should "take the necessary measures" to identify the callers. A string of other personalities have received similar threats, the statement said. They include former interior minister Ahmad Fatfat, outspoken TV presenter Nadim Koteich and liquidation attempt survivor and journalist May Chidiac. All are seen as high-profile opponents of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... 's regime and its powerful Lebanese ally, Hezbollah. The Shiite movement has sent thousands of fighters into Syria to help Assad's troops in their bid to crush the revolt that erupted nearly three years ago. Reports have also emerged that Sunni politician Khaled Daher, a fierce critic of the Damascus regime, has also received threats against his life. Chatah's death on December 27 was the latest in a string of nine high-profile liquidations of Syria critics that began in February 2005 with former prime minister Rafiq Hariri's murder. Syria and Hezbollah have systematically denied any links to the attacks. An international tribunal tasked with investigating Hariri's liquidation is due to start trying five Hezbollah members in absentia from January 16. Syria dominated Leb for nearly 30 years until the international outcry over Hariri's killing forced Assad's troops out. However, a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... Damascus still exerts influence over Leb through its allies.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hariri calls for Syria blast confessions inquiry

2008-11-13

The head of Lebanon's ruling coalition Saed Hariri called on the Arab League Tuesday to investigate the alleged "confessions" of a terrorist group broadcast on Syrian state television that accused his Future movement of funding the group that carried out September's deadly car bombing in Damascus, local press reported. Y'don't suppose Saad's caught the same whiff of old flounder we have, do you? Hariri called on Secretary General Amr Moussa to form "an Arab committee that would investigate the confessions," according to a report in the Daily Star. Alleged members of the al-Qaeda linked Fatah al-Islam appeared to confess on Syrian TV last week to carrying out the car bombing that killed 17 people, mainly civilians, in the Syrian capital in September. They claimed that the explosives used were smuggled in from northern Lebanon, where the extremist group battled the Lebanese Army last year at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp. Wafa al-Abssi, the daughter of Fatah al-Islam leader Shakr al-Abssi, said that the group had received money from Saad Hariri's Future Movement, which is part of the March 14 coalition that leads Lebanon's anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and is heavily backed by the U.S. Hariri called the allegations "fabrications and lies" in a statement released shortly after the broadcast. In an interview with the Voice of Lebanon Tuesday MP Ahmad Fatfat also called for the confessions to be referred to the Arab League in hopes a "fact-finding mission" would "put an end to the exploitation of the Fatah al-Islam issue." Another Future MP, Hadi Hbeish, told Future TV Tuesday that the confessions were fabricated by the Syrian intelligence. During a visit to Syria Tuesday Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud said discussions about the televised confessions were on the agenda for his meeting with Syrian counterpart Bassam Abdul Majid. "We asked for more information and details and to look into the investigation and we will take necessary measures accordingly," said Barroud. He was in Syria to discuss security cooperation and finalize the formation of a joint Lebanese-Syrian committee.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Fatfat blames Hezbollah for north Lebanon clashes

2008-07-28

Former Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Fatfat on Saturday said that the events of Jabal Mohsin and Bab al-Tabbaneh were totally linked to the political situation in Lebanon, blaming Hezbollah for the recent violence in Tripoli and pointing out that the Lebanese army could not "carry out its duty to prevent clashes." In an interview with the Al-Mustaqbal newspaper, Fatfat said there had been "negligence" by the army in carrying out the "clear role assigned to the military institution - because the army should be firm and decisive." He noted that "Speaker Nabih Berri has preached that crisis would continue if we did not reach agreement concerning the ministerial statement, and the aim of these conflicts was to exert more pressure. There is nothing harder than the sectarian rift that is happening in Tripoli, since each people's race for self-security is prevailing in the region." Fatfat, who is currently a member of the Lebanese parliament, said he felt that there had to be "a party with an interest in propagating this dispute for political gains." "This party is known... It is Hezbollah which has used violence on several occasions for political gains. Hezbollah has trained and armed the groups in the north to carry out such violence as needed by Hezbollah " he explained.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Fatfat Blames Tripoli Violence on Hizbullah-Trained Factions

2008-07-27

MP Ahmad Fatfat blamed the ongoing clashes in Tripoli on Hizbullah-trained factions and urged the army and security forces to "carry out their duty" against combatants on both sides of the confrontation line. Fatfat, in an interview with the Mustaqbal daily, said "the army has to be firm and decisive, especially that it has the names of feuding leaders from both sides, from Bab al-Tabbaneh and from Baal Mohsen. They appear on Television screens holding press conferences despite that they are wanted by law. This is not acceptable." He warned that the population in Tripoli is arming up and "the logic of auto security is prevailing."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Leb coup d'etat: Hezbollah seizes control of west Beirut

2008-05-10

Gunmen from the militant Shiite Hezbollah and its allies took control of west Beirut Friday, crushing fighters from the Sunni Future Movement and opening an uncertain new chapter in Lebanon's tortured history. The success of Hezbollah's offensive cast doubt over the government's ability to survive in its current configuration, despite an air of resolve by cabinet ministers. Ahmad Fatfat, the minister of sports, said that Hezbollah had taken advantage of the government's decisions "as a pretext to declare war." "Hezbollah has gained control over Beirut and has caused a Sunni-Shiite conflict that will be extended for years," he said. "We are trying to reduce its severity and contain possible repercussions." The west Beirut residences of Saad Hariri, who heads the Future Movement, and Walid Jumblatt, leader of Lebanon's Druze community, were besieged by heavily armed fighters from Hezbollah and its Shiite ally the Amal Movement. By noon Friday, fighting had mostly petered out after Future Movement fighters laid down their weapons and allowed themselves to be escorted away under the protection of Lebanese troops. "It was a one-side civil war," says Hani Hammoud, senior adviser to Mr. Hariri, speaking by telephone from Hariri's besieged residence in the Koreitem district of west Beirut. "The end result is that Iran has taken over the country."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

9 killed , dozens injured during Hezbollah-led protests in Lebanon

2008-01-28

Nine were killed and dozens injured when Hezbollah-led opposition supporters protested against the power blackouts and the living conditions throughout Lebanon today . The protests followed a massive bomb blast on Friday which killed a senior Lebanese intelligence officer and three others in the east of the capital. According to political observers Hezbollah has decided to direct its arms against the Lebanese army and the internal security forces . "This is the reason for the escalation of violence against the armed forces and the Internal security forces " , Ahmad Yasseen, a political observer told Ya Libnan The latest deaths come at a time of acute political instability in Lebanon as deadlock between pro-Syrian and pro-Western parties drags on. Initially the protest started near the Mar Mikhael church in the Chiah district a Hezbollah stronghold east of Beirut The protesters burned rubber tires and tried to block the roads The fifth regiment of the army intervened by trying to reopen the roads but the protesters opened fire at the army . There was also sniper fire from nearby areas. Ahmad Hassan Hamze 35, a Shiite Amal official was the first killed in the protests today. Initial reports said he was killed by sniper fire The name of the second victim who was killed in the protests is Yousef Shukair. Shukair was transferred to Bahman, an Iranian hospital located in the Ghubairi area, a suburb of Beirut and a stronghold of Hezbollah and Amal . The identity of the rest of the victims has not been revealed yet, but according to unconfirmed reports all but one of the victims were Hezbollah supporters Prime Minister Siniora contacted the electricity company chief to inquire about the reasons behind the power cuts. The electricity company has reported that there was no power blackout either before or after the protests . The electricity company sources also reported that neither Hezbollah nor Amal supporters ever pay for electricity charges . Those citizens that pay have never protested over the blackouts. As a result of the refusal of Hezbollah and Amal members to pay for electricity charges the heavily indebted Lebanese Government has to subsidize the electricity company . Lebanon’s Minister of Youths and Sports Ahmad Fatfat condemned the violent protests and said ; "Is it fair for the protesters who are protesting against power cuts and living conditions to shoot at the army ?" Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah MP ignited further the protests when he said today : “What we see today is the result of the suffering and the pain of the people “ The Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah- led opposition has been blamed for the deteriorating living conditions in Lebanon resulting from their protests to bring down the government of Prime Minister Siniora. More than two hundred businesses in down town Beirut , where the protest have been going on for nearly 18 months , have closed down , declared bankruptcy and laid off thousands of employees .

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Half-plus-one vote gathers momentum after election delay

2007-12-12

Hours after a parliamentary session to elect a new president was put off again for an eighth time, leaders of the ruling March 14 coalition hinted at resorting to elections by a majority vote of half-plus-one. According to political analysts the half-plus-one vote gathered momentum immediately following the announcement by Berri's office which stating that the presidential elections were delayed till next Monday, Dec. 17. MP Wael Abu Faour said after meeting Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir Turesday morning: "We do not rule out any possibility, be it elections by a majority vote of half-plus-one or not." Abu Faour was part of a delegation dispatched by Democratic Gathering leader MP Walid Jumblatt . The delegation included Jumblatt's closest ally Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh. Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat also told the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Tuesday that March 14 "did not at all abandon the half-plus-one option. This is a constitutional alternative." Similarly , former MP Fares Said, a prominent member of the March 14 ruling majority urged his colleagues to go ahead and elect army General Michel Suleiman as the next president based on the half plus one quorum . He recommended the coordination of this action with Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. Said blamed the delay on Iran and Syria who according to him "want to burn Lebanon" MP Saad Hariri also did not rule out the possibility that March 14 might resort to elections by a majority vote of half-plus-one.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Aoun threatens with street protests

2007-10-06

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michen Aoun threatened that his supporters would take to the streets if fellow partisans detained by police on charges of paramilitary training were not released. The FPM also denied Friday that some of its members were undergoing paramilitary training, but rather "having fun." "They were just out having fun with real weapons but not undergoing any military training as such," said FPM spokesman Alain Aoun. His comments came after security officials on Thursday announced that two FPM members had been arrested for undergoing paramilitary training, fanning tension ahead of a delayed presidential vote. The security forces also released photographs of uniformed young men and women armed with automatic rifles. Authorities said the group was receiving instructions on the use of weapons in the Jbeil region north of the capital. The FPM spokesman said the group had been in charge of protecting residence of the movement's leader outside Beirut in 2005 and that the photos released by the authorities were taken at least 18 months ago. "These kids made a mistake," he said. "But we're not talking here about combat units as the ruling majority is claiming." But Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Fatfat, a member of the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Fouad Saniora, said the government could not tolerate political parties each having their own security forces. "Such a situation could lead to a new civil war," he warned. Under the Taif agreement that ended Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, all factions disarmed their militias with the exception of the Shiite militant group Hizbullah which fought last year's war with Israel. Aoun, a candidate in this month's vote for a new president, is allied with Hizbullah and the Amal movement of parliament speaker Nabih Berri, which are backed by Syria and Iran. The two sides have been deadlocked over the choice of a new president to replace pro-Syrian incumbent Emile Lahoud and a first parliamentary session convened last month to elect a successor failed to achieve a quorum.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah torpedoes Cousseran mission to Leb

2007-07-27

Top French diplomat Jean-Claude Cousseran on Wednesday wrapped up a three-day mission without making much progress in breaking an eight-month deadlock among Lebanon's feuding political parties. Cousseran told reporters that his meetings with Lebanese leaders were useful and aimed at paving the way for a Beirut visit this weekend by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. He did not elaborate. But several sources said Cousseran's efforts were hampered by the refusal of the powerful Shiite Hezbollah party, which leads the opposition, to agree to join discussions with rival factions in Lebanon. "I believe Hezbollah does not want to move forward on a meeting in Beirut among the country's political parties," said Youth Minister Ahmad Fatfat, who is a member of the anti-Syrian majority in parliament. Another member of the majority told reporters on condition of anonymity that it was suggested to Cousseran that talks similar to the ones held in France among all the rival parties take place in Beirut, but Hezbollah refused. The July 14-15 meeting at Saint Cloud, near Paris, sought to nudge the parties into ending a crisis that threatens to scuttle presidential elections set for September, thus plunging the country further into chaos. Nawaf Musawi, in charge of international relations for Hezbollah, said his party was keen on the French initiative succeeding, but that this could only take place once a government of national unity was formed. "We must not waste time in discussions," Musawi told reporters. "A national unity government must be put in place and it would be up to that government to discuss lingering problems." Hezbollah is pushing for the opposition to be better represented in government in order to give it veto power. The majority, however, is demanding that the opposition beforehand stop blocking parliamentary sessions in order to ensure the quorum needed for the presidential elections to replace pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud. Cousseran has met with officials from across the political spectrum since his arrival in Lebanon on Monday, including representatives from Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran. On Wednesday, he met with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a member of the Shiite opposition, and said the two had discussed Cousseran's recent visit to Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. "We had a lengthy and useful conversation that touched on the recent conference in Saint Cloud," Cousseran told reporters. "We also discussed my meetings in neighbouring countries and with a number of Lebanese officials."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria's opponents in Lebanon remain targets

2007-06-16

by Rana Fil Murder can have unforeseen consequences. Syria's leaders ought to know that by now. A prime example is the car-bomb assassination of the billionaire Lebanese-independence champion Rafik Hariri. Almost faster than Damascus could deny responsibility for it, his killing launched the Cedar Revolution, a massive Lebanese nationalist uprising that accomplished what Hariri had only dreamed of doing while he lived. Within weeks his death had brought down the pro-Syria puppet government in Beirut. Damascus was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, after 29 years of military occupation. And yet the killings—and Syria's denials of involvement in any of them—continue. Since Hariri's death, seven anti-Syrian political figures have been killed in Lebanon, including three members of Parliament. The most recent was Walid Eido, 65. Late on the afternoon of June 13, a bomb ripped through his black Mercedes on a side street in Beirut, killing the legislator along with his 35-year-old son, two bodyguards and six passers-by. The death of Eido reduced the Lebanese Parliament's anti-Damascus majority to 68 seats in a total 128—actually a total of 126, since there was one vacancy even before this killing created another. President Emile Lahoud, a holdover from before the Cedar Revolution, has blocked efforts to fill the seat that was held by cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel until he was gunned down in a road ambush last November. The pro-Syrian president's successor is to be chosen in September, and in Lebanon it's the Parliament that does the choosing. Now there's one fewer vote for the anti-Damascus side. But violence against the Lebanese government has moved beyond assassinations to armed conflict. A small but heavily armed jihadist group calling itself Fatah al-Islam has been battling the Lebanese Army in and around Tripoli since the third weekend in May. The fighting, centered on Nahr el-Bared—the Palestinian refugee camp closest to Syria's border—erupted three days after the United States, France and Great Britain began circulating a draft U.N. resolution for creation of a tribunal for suspects in the Hariri assassination. As always, the Syrians deny any part in the violence, but many Lebanese say the connection is obvious. "Nahr el-Bared is the implementation of Syrian official talk of turning Lebanon into hell if the international tribunal moves ahead," says parliamentarian Elias Atallah, in a comment echoed by others in his bloc. Fatah al-Islam has an estimated 350 jihadists from all over the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia and Morocco. Lebanese police say many of the group's fighters spent time in Iraq before infiltrating into Lebanon via Syria. Hariri's son, Saad Hariri, the Parliament's majority leader, is unwavering in his conviction that Syria is behind Fatah al-Islam. "I would understand if two or three of them arrive at the Damascus Airport and slip through immigration," says Hariri. "But when we're talking of so many, including Syrians, there is a huge question mark on how and why the Syrian intelligence did not intercept them." Many Fatah al-Islam leaders are said to have spent time in Syrian jails before arriving in Lebanon, according to Gen. Ashraf Rifi, the head of Lebanon's internal security forces. "They were released from Syrian jails by special amnesty,'' Rifi says. Lebanese officials believe the former prisoners got their freedom on condition that they begin working for Syria's intelligence services. The group's leader, a Palestinian named Shaker Absi, served three years behind bars in Syria on weapons charges. In 2004 a Jordanian military court sentenced him in absentia to death for the October 2002 murder of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman, but Syria refused to send its prisoner to Jordan. (One of Absi’s codefendants was Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, the bloodthirsty Jordanian-born jihadist who founded and led Al Qaeda in Iraq until his death in an American air strike in 2006.) Senior Lebanese officials say Fatah al-Islam began as Fatah al-Intifada, a Syrian-aligned group established in the 1980s as an offshoot of Yasir Arafat's Fatah organization. In the summer of 2006, amid the chaos of Israel's war on Hezbollah, Absi showed up in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps and Fatah al-Intifada began to grow, according to Ahmad Fatfat, then-acting Interior minister. The new militants worried other camp residents, who wanted no bloodshed around their homes. Nevertheless, fighting finally broke out in September 2006 between Fatah al-Intifada and people in Beddawi, a camp outside Tripoli. After one Palestinian died, Beddawi residents apprehended two Fatah al-Intifada militants and handed them over to Lebanese authorities. Absi and his followers soon changed their group's name to Fatah al-Islam. Lebanon's Communications minister, Marwan Hamadeh —himself the target of an assassination attempt just months before Hariri was killed—says the renaming came after Lebanese authorities received intelligence that Damascus had begun sending "the same suicide bombers it sends to Iraq" to Lebanon. "They wanted to make it look as if it was a pure Al Qaeda operation," he said. "Some of the elements probably believe they work for Al Qaeda but the command is under Syrian control." Captured Fatah al-Islam fighters have allegedly confessed to receiving military training at bases run by the pro-Syrian radical Palestinian group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. "We have no ties with Fatah al-Islam," says Ramez Mostafa, the PFLP-GC's top man in Lebanon. "The [Lebanese] government is using those events to aim at our weapons." Syria's parliamentary friends accuse Hariri of having his own militant connections, particularly in the south Lebanon town of Taamir, where the group Jund al-Sham ("Soldiers of Damascus") is based. Hariri says he has given money in Taamir—to help the poor, not the militants. He says he built roads and clinics there to give the inhabitants an alternative to joining the militants. "We worked hard to give people dignity and responsibility in this neighborhood where people live in desperate poverty," he says. "If you give them hope, they see that there is a way out." Meanwhile, the fighting in the north may actually be helping to bring the people of Lebanon together. Many Palestinians have distanced themselves from the militants, according to Sultan Abu al-Aynayn, the commander of Fatah in Lebanon. And Jihad Zein, opinion editor at an-Nahar newspaper, believes the violence has actually increased support for the army across the Lebanese political spectrum. "Even the nuanced position of Hezbollah does not represent the Shiite public mood, which has traditionally been with the army," he said in an interview. Many observers regard that development as a sign of major progress. "An army is the first building block of a state," says Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. "The reappearance of the national army means the reappearance of the cornerstone of a potential sovereign Lebanese state." Somewhere, Rafik Hariri may be smiling.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Incriminating evidence live on Lebanese television

2007-06-15

During the live coverage of Walid Eido's assassination, Nabih Berri's news channel anchors forgot to mute their microphones as they proceeded to laugh at the murder of Eido, and imply there was more coming. NBN's technical director forgot to kill the anchorwoman's microphone, allowing viewers to hear her say "it took them long enough", in reference to Eido's murder. In between rounds of laughing and gloating with her colleagues, they speculated that March 14 minister Ahmad Fatafat could be next, and tried to determine how many more March 14 members need to die to get rid of the parliament's majority. Beyond the divisive and damaging insults being cast in the aftermath of one of the most violent and tragic political assassinations in Lebanon's history which claimed the lives of 10 citizens, the sick comments open a can of worms for Lebanon's delinquent speaker of the parliament, Nabih Berri and his closest ally, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. The NBN employees imply that there is in fact a plan to eliminate the anti-Syrian majority by killing off their members of parliament. According to Al Arabiya TV, Ahmad Fatfat is already planning to sue NBN for implying that he is the next assassination target, and plans to ask U.N. Chief Investigator Serge Brammertz to raise the incriminating remarks with international courts.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Beirut wants Paleos to settle Nahr al-Bared crisis, Trucefire™ in effect

2007-05-28

Long read but worth wading thru... The Lebanese government deferred to Palestinians factions on Sunday in brokering a "political" solution to the standoff here between the army and Fatah al-Islam militants, although it was unclear to what extent Palestinian leaders had accepted the role. "We are waiting for the Palestinians factions to reach a final decision on how to deal with the issue of Fatah al-Islam," Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Fatfat told The Daily Star Sunday. "The army continues to maintain security on the ground." So they can give all those boatsful of US arms to Hezbollah, I guess. Troops increased their already heavy presence outside the camp over the weekend, as arms shipments from the United States arrived in Beirut. The Fatah Movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas and the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, among other Palestinian groups, were expected to have a hand in talks. Gah. Fatfat denied earlier media reports that the government had set a deadline of mid-week for a solution to be negotiated. "We have put no time restraint [on the negotiations]," he said. The PLO representative in Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, said Sunday that the group had not been approached by the Cabinet. "The Lebanese government did not ask us to find a solution, nor did it set a deadline," he said in an interview with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation. Certainly not! A calm but cautious mood prevailed at the camp north of Tripoli on Sunday, with the army deployed in defensive positions in the area for the third consecutive day following the reopening of roads around the camp. An army source confirmed on Sunday that "light gunfire" had been exchanged overnight between soldiers and militants. "The army is alert to possible infiltrations by militants from the Fatah al-Islam," the army source told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity. "Several members of the group were arrested in Tripoli and within the vicinity of the camp" over the weekend, he said. The current truce followed three days of heavy fighting at the camp, in which 33 Lebanese soldiers and an unknown number of militants were killed. Four of the dead militants were Saudi nationals, Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Abdel-Aziz Khoja told local daily Al-Hayat on Sunday. "But they have yet to be identified," he added. As the siege of the camp continued, eight cargo planes arrived in Beirut over the weekend with US military aid. Four US planes and two planes each from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan ferried in material for soldiers in the North. Media reports said the planes carried ammunition, body armor, helmets and night-vision equipment. A camp resident who left Nahr al-Bared on Saturday afternoon said both electrical power and water had been cut off since the conflict started and that camp residents had only bread and canned goods to eat. "We have no access to news, we only have the phones and people are afraid of new weapons sent by the Americans that the army would use on them, including gas," he carefully read from a script handed to him by a guy in a turban said. In a video statement aired on Al-Jazeera television on Saturday night, Fatah al-Islam leader Shaker Youssef al-Absi said that his group's fight was with "Jews and Americans," and not with Lebanon. He said his group was "not a threat to the security of Lebanon" and accused an unidentified "third party" of starting the hostilities - an accusation echoed over the weekend by Palestinian leaders. Absi said his fighters would not surrender but would kill those who storm the camp. "We wish to die for the sake of God ... Sunni people are the spearhead against the Zionist Americans," the militant leader said. Absi was shown seated before a black banner, as another militant holding an assault rifle stood next to him. The tape also showed militants training at an unidentified camp. Residents of Nahr al-Bared who fled to Beddawi told The Daily Star that they had finally "put a face to the name" after watching the video of Absi. "We used to see him around the camp all the time but we didn't know who he was," said Sari Nasser in Beddawi on Sunday. "He would say 'peace be upon you' to everyone but rarely talk to anyone," said Nasser. "He kept to himself."

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