Lebanon Is Pivotal for Syria's Jihadists
By: Ali Hashem for Al-Monitor Lebanon Pulse Posted on April 9.
Beirut's bloody Valentine's Day back in 2005, the day former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri was killed, saw the first appearance of "Al-Nusra," a
group that then claimed the responsibility for the Sunni leader's
assassination. A young jihadist called Ahmad Abu Adas appeared in a
videotape that was aired exclusively on the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera news
network saying he belonged to the group that killed Saudi Arabia's strongman
in Lebanon. The claim wasn't taken seriously and pro-Hariri supporters and
politicians accused the Syrian regime of fabricating the group to distract
attention.
About This Article
Summary :
Ali Hashem writes that Lebanon has been home to various jihadist groups
since the 1990s, but that it wasn't until the Sept. 11 attacks that the
connection with al-Qaeda became clear.
Author: Ali Hashem
Posted on : April 9 2013
Categories : Originals Lebanon Security
A group made up of 13 jihadists was arrested in Beirut, and its members
confessed to playing a role in the assassination; later on, members of the
group discarded their testimonies saying they were coerced under pressure.
Lebanon isn't a country famous for its jihadists, but that doesn't mean
there are none. Five years before Hariri's death [Dec. 31, 1999], weeklong
clashes between Lebanese security forces and a group of jihadists led by
al-Qaeda veteran Bassam Kanj in Donieh, northern Lebanon, saw the beginning
of the story. The importance of Kanj is that he was at that time one of few
Lebanese jihadists who fought in Afghanistan and a key figure in linking
al-Qaeda in Afghanistan to al-Qaeda cells in Lebanon.
Kanj, aka Abu Aisha, who knew both Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri,
was killed in the clashes while his men were arrested and imprisoned for
years. Some of them were released while others are still at Roumieh prison
near Beirut in the notorious Bloc B, known for being the Islamists'
building.
During the period between 2000 and 2011, several groups emerged in Lebanon
under different names. Some were silent and were only exposed when arrested,
such as the Kamaldine group led by Egyptian jihadist Ayman Kamaldine, who
attempted to smuggle arms from Lebanon to Jordan. Kamaldine confessed that
he and his group were linked to al-Qaeda, and that they were using Lebanon
as a ground of "nusra" [support].
It was not until Sept. 11, 2001, that people started talking seriously about
the Lebanese connection to al-Qaeda. The name of Ziad Jarrah, one of the 19
men who took part in the Sept. 11 attacks, emerged and people started asking
seriously then whether al-Qaeda was present in Lebanon.
In Beirut, I met Abu Baraa, a code name used by our source who was once an
inmate of Roumieh prison's Islamist building. He fought with Kanj in
Dounieh, but now he's doing nothing but "preaching Islam." He saw several of
his "brothers," the word used by Islamists when mentioning comrades, working
from the prison without any interference from Lebanese security forces. "We
had phones, and I have recently learned that prisoners have Internet access
now; they used to communicate with the outside world and give orders."
According to Abu Baraa, Lebanese jihadists should be grateful to the
Palestinians for where they are now. Palestinian jihadists, along with a few
Lebanese, had the chance "to go to Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya, etc. . and
come back more experienced, with a larger network, capable of tougher
tactics, and they also helped in providing hideouts for the brothers
whenever they needed it."
Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon are a busy hub for jihadists. Ain
al-Hilweh camp in Sidon, southern Lebanon, is home to several groups -
Abdullah Azzam Brigades, Osbat al-Ansar, Jund al-Sham and others are active
groups which are now exporting experts to Syria.
In May 2007, Palestinian jihadist group Fatah al-Islam fought a deadly war
with the Lebanese army at Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. The group had several
Lebanese fighters within it. The battles continued for around 3 months - the
camp was fully destroyed, many of Fatah al-Islam's fighters were killed or
arrested, and some fighters escaped and found themselves save havens in
Palestinian refugee camps, mainly in Ain al-Hilweh.
According to Abu Baraa, "After Nahr al-Bared's battle, there was a need to
find an umbrella for the mujahedeen. Lebanon wasn't a land of jihad, but
still there were some targets to be hit, the UNIFIL [UN Interim Force In
Lebanon] for example."
The UN's interim force in Lebanon saw its troops expanding to 15,000 after
the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Spanish, French, Italian and
other EU nations' troops were sent to southern Lebanon to help keep the
peace on the borders. They succeeded relatively speaking, but failed in
keeping themselves at peace. Since 2007, UN forces have suffered from at
least six attacks that claimed the lives of several soldiers. The Abdullah
Azzam Brigades, an unknown group that was later identified as al-Qaeda's
branch in Lebanon, claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.
The Syrian revolution was a turning point in the status of jihadist groups
in Lebanon. The groups themselves gained more ground, given the sectarian
strife and the feeling of oppression within Sunni grassroots. "Many
motivated Sunni Lebanese young men decided to adopt the jihadist doctrine to
seek revenge in Syria," Abu Baraa, whose brother is fighting in Syria, said.
He added "Syria is a magnet; people are getting killed by this merciless
regime, along with its agents in Lebanon, Hezballat." "Hezballat" is the
name Sunni jihadists give to Hezbollah. "Allat" is the name of a pre-Islamic
Arabian goddess who was worshipped by the enemies of Islam.
Murad Batal, a London-based expert on jihadists groups, told Al-Monitor that
"Jihadists in Lebanon coordinate with jihadists in Syria, including
Al-Nusra. He added, "Lebanon, like Jordan and Iraq, is pivotal for Syria's
jihadists in terms of logistics and jihadists."
Someone who decided to go to Syria was Khaled Mahmoud, aka Abu Suleiman. He
fought with Bassam Kanj in Dounieh, and was affiliated with Fatah al-Islam
after being released from prison.
Khaled is from Wadi Khaled, an area on the border with Syria. When he was
arrested more than a decade ago in Dounieh, he told a Lebanese judge that he
joined the group because he believed "Lebanon should be an Islamic state
ruled by the teachings of the Quran and the sunna, headed by an emir and a
Shura Council, and Christians in this state should be dealt with as people
of the Book." Khaled was arrested once again in 2008 after the Nahr al-Bared
clashes between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam. He was released in
2011.
According to security sources, Khaled is fighting alongside the Al-Nusra
front in Syria and leading a group of Lebanese and Palestinian fighters he
handpicked before going to Syria.
"Those men will continue to fight in Syria until there is a clear order that
Lebanon is a land of jihad," said Abu Baraa, when I asked him about the
future of the Lebanese and Palestinian fighters who went to Syria. He added,
"This day will have to come sooner or later, I don't want war, but sometimes
you have to do what you don't like." He subsequently ended with a verse from
the Quran: "Fighting has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you.
But perhaps you hate a thing, and it is good for you, and perhaps you love a
thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows while you know not."
Will Lebanon be a jihad front any time soon? Once again, I asked Murad
Batal, who was a bit doubtful due to the diversity of the Lebanese society
and said, "The longer the Syrian crisis lasts, the more tensions will
increase, radicalizing youth in the Sunni community." He added, "Their role
as new jihadists linked to Syria will increase inside Lebanon."
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