Word: islamic
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...late 2006, a fighter named Shaker al-Absi broke away from Fatah al-Intifada and called his new faction Fatah al-Islam. This time, the split appeared to be rooted in the growth of al-Qaeda and the terrorism unleashed after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, another indication of extremism's viral spread since Sept. 11, 2001. The original Fatah always espoused a secular Palestinian state, as did Fatah al-Intifada. But Fatah al-Islam not only preaches a Salafist brand of Islam, but appears to have at least logistical links with al-Qaeda. In 2004, a Jordanian court convicted...
...Siniora's government believes that Fatah al-Islam is a Syrian proxy, though Syrian officials angrily reject the accusations. But whatever the truth about Fatah al-Islam, its sudden, violent birth amounts to a warning about dangers ahead for a Middle East where political conflicts have for too long remained unsolved. It is conventional wisdom that Lebanon is the stage where Middle East factions act out their disputes. In the eruption of killings in Tripoli, however, Lebanon is just another player in a larger, unfolding drama...
...Palestinians leaving the camp were taking advantage of a cease-fire on Tuesday afternoon in the fighting between the Lebanese army and militants from the Fatah al-Islam faction. The battle had started on Sunday, when militants stormed Lebanese army positions surrounding the camp. Shots rang out there and in Tripoli as Lebanese security forces attempted to arrest suspects who were linked to a bank robbery and were also alleged members of Fatah al-Islam. In the first day's intense gun battles on the streets of Tripoli and in the camp, some 50 people died. The violence spread south...
...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. Lebanese authorities have accused the group of a bombing in the Christian town of Ain Alaq in February during which three people were killed. They also believe Fatah al-Islam members carried out at least three bank robberies, the latest on Saturday when $120,000 was stolen from a bank in the coastal town of Amioun, south of Tripoli...
...Divining the real identity and agenda of Fatah al-Islam depends on whom you ask. The anti-Syrian March 14 coalition, which forms the backbone of the Lebanese government, believes that the group is linked to al-Qaeda but was planted in Lebanon by Syrian military intelligence to cause instability. "Syrian intelligence has been working with groups like this for 20 years. It's an old practice," says Radwan al-Sayyed, a professor of Islamic studies at the Lebanese University and a speechwriter for Siniora. But others argue that blaming Syria for all Lebanon's problems is the default position...