According to the New York Sun and the Washington Post, the UN Secretary General has published a report linking an al Qaeda affiliate in Lebanon, Fatah al-Islam, to Syrian intelligence. Fatah al-Islam has engaged in heavy fighting with Lebanese forces at times, but under constant pressure seems to have been significantly degraded in recent months. The UN’s analysis reportedly draws heavily from a letter Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora wrote Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. According to the Sun, the “letter draws upon information gathered during the interrogation of captured leaders.” Indeed, the Sun says that Siniora wrote: “Direct contact between some of Fatah al-Islam’s leaders and some senior Syrian intelligence officers, which were revealed in the interrogations, are consistent with the suspicion that Syrian intelligence has used Fatah al-Islam to serve its political and security objectives in Lebanon.” MEMRI has posted excerpts from Siniora’s letter as well as Syria’s response here. See also MEMRI’s previous report. Now, there are some who have claimed that Fatah al-Islam could not possibly cooperate with both al Qaeda and the Syrian regime. After all, don’t we know that the Baathist, Alawite regime in Syria is simply incapable of colluding with Sunni Islamists? Such thinking, however, is flawed for a variety of reasons. And this is precisely why I and others have argued that it does not make sense to carve up our terrorist enemies into impenetrable ideological boxes. Al Qaeda’s members, including its most senior leaders, have proven willing to work with the enemy of their enemies, despite any theological or ideological differences, time and again. Indeed, there is a lengthy history of collaboration between Syria’s senior partner in terror, Iran, and al Qaeda. Getting back to the case of Fatah al-Islam, included below are just some of the threads tying the group to both al Qaeda and Syrian intelligence. In addition, links to some of the reporting on the controversy over Fatah al-Islam are included:
- As the BBC noted in September, Fatah al-Islam is an offshoot of “Fatah al-Intifada (Fatah Uprising), a Syrian-backed Palestinian group based in Lebanon.” The BBC also notes that Fatah al-Islam is led by Shaker al-Abssi, who has spend much of his time living in Damascus. Interestingly enough, during his time in Syria, al-Abssi “is believed to have become a close associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, with whom he allegedly helped plan the assassination of a US diplomat, Laurence Foley, in Amman in 2002.”
- The Syrian authorities arrested al-Abssi in 2002 and sentenced him to prison for three years, but then let him out. According to the Sun, Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora cited al-Abssi’s release and subsequent links to Syrian intelligence as evidence that the two are working together. This makes sense if you think about it: The Syrians let him go free, just as long as he does what they want him to. That is, assuming he was really imprisoned.
- Despite the aforementioned ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Abssi denies any ties to al Qaeda but endorses the group’s ideology. His denial rings hallow. As the BBC reported, Fatah al-Islam’s statements have appeared on al Qaeda-associated web sites.
- James Gordon Meek of the New York Daily News explained Fatah al-Islam’s ties to al Qaeda in June: “Fatah Al-Islam sprang up quickly in one northern refugee camp, which they were expelled from. Once inside Nahr Al-Bared, they fought with Lebanese army troops. Their biggest backer is Asbat Al-Ansar, which the State Department in 2002 called an ‘Al Qaeda affiliate’ that ‘receives money through international Sunni extremist networks and Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda.’ Asbat Al-Ansar fighters have fought recently in the notorious southern refugee camp Ayn Al-Hilweh, where Al Qaeda has its own strong presence.” Meek also cited two U.S. counterterrorism officials as dismissing the Lebanese claim that Fatah al-Islam was working with Syria. Again, the UN is not dismissing that claim.
- On October 18, the Daily Star in Lebanon reported that, after “weeks of negotiations,” eleven families of Fatah al-Islam members left Lebanon for Syria. Obviously, they believe they will be much safer under the Syrian regime’s watchful eye.
- In May, Evan Kohlmann over at the Counterterrorism Blog believed that the “connections between Fatah al-Islam and the Syrian government remain hazy at best,” but “there is significant and troubling evidence linking the group to Al-Qaida fighters in Iraq and elsewhere.” According to the UN and the Lebanese government, however, the connections between the Syrians and Fatah al-Islam are not hazy. In any event, Kohlmann wrote an interesting analysis of the al Qaeda angle.
- Walid Phares, also of the Counterterrorism Blog, provided a detailed analysis of the ties between Fatah al-Islam, Syrian intelligence, and al Qaeda here.
- Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora gave an interview to Time magazine this past May in which he discussed Fatah al-Islam’s ties to Syrian intelligence. He left open the possibility then that the Syrian operatives were acting as rogue agents, but that was always unlikely for dozens of reasons and is not what he is saying now.
- The State Department added Fatah al-Islam to its list of Specially Designated Terrorist Organizations in August.
- Michael Young and Michael J. Totten have both taken Seymour Hersh to task for his ridiculous reporting on this issue. Hersh believes that somehow the U.S. and the Lebanese Government are supporting Sunni extremists like Fatah al-Islam. Of course, the situation is precisely reverse. Hersh’s reporting is prime example of how skewed the press’s coverage of the “war on terror” can become. Indeed, Hersh’s reporting mirrors the propaganda of Syria’s government.
