* ‘Terror made me victorious’- said Muhammad. Some of his worshipers are following this doctrine to the letter: In many cases we see whole family clans with a long history of engaging in jihad terror. But don’t wait for the MSM to tell you that. For the kumbayah brigades it is just a ‘tiny minority of extremists‘ and there really is nothing to worry about. ‘Global jihad?’ Never heard of it!
BEIRUT: One of the Islamic militants killed in fighting with Lebanese troops in northern Lebanon was a suspect in a failed German train bombing attempt, a Lebanese security official said Monday.
The body of Saddam el-Hajdib was among the burned bodies of 10 Fatah al-Islam fighters found in a building in the northern city of Tripoli after it was raided by Lebanese troops and police officers during fierce fighting with the militants on Sunday, the official said in an interview.
The body of another high-ranking member of Fatah al-Islam, known as Abu Yazan, was found in the same building in Tripoli, officials said.
Lebanon army fights militants, blast hits Beirut
Reuters
Hajdib was the fourth-highest ranking official in the Fatah al-Islam group, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Hajdib had been on trial in absentia in Lebanon in connection with the failed German plot. It was not clear if Lebanese officials had known his whereabouts before the fighting broke out Sunday in northern Lebanon, in the city of Tripoli and in a nearby Palestinian refugee camp where Fatah al-Islam has set up its headquarters.
Hajdib is a brother of Youssef el-Hajdib, who is under arrest in Germany in the bombing attempt.
The German government did not comment Monday on Hajdib’s death, but did express concern about the fighting in Lebanon.
“We are very worried about the fights between the Lebanese Army and armed groups, and we condemn attacks on the Lebanese Army fiercely,” said Martin Jäger, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. “The disarming of the militia is urgent.”
Four other Lebanese suspects are being held in police custody in Lebanon and are being tried for their alleged role in the bombing attempt. They are Jihad Hamad, Ayman Hawa, Khalil al-Boubou and Khaled Khair-Eddin el-Hajdib.
Khaled el-Hajdib is a cousin of Youssef and Saddam el-Hajdib.
The Lebanese authorities arrested the four suspects on charges that they had planted crude bombs on two trains at the Cologne station on July 31. The bombs, found later in the day on trains at the Koblenz and Dortmund stations, failed to explode because of faulty detonators.
German surveillance cameras are said to have filmed suspects as they wheeled suitcases into the station.
Germany wants to extradite the men, but there is no extradition treaty between Germany and Lebanon. Lebanon has decided to try the suspects in its courts and defer consideration of extradition until later.
A Lebanese appeals court rejected a request from one of the four suspects to move the proceedings closer to the suspects’ homes in northern Lebanon. The defense had demanded that the trial be moved to Tripoli, arguing that the suspects’ families could not afford travel expenses to Beirut, a two-hour drive away.
Court officials, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, have said security concerns, including the possibility of an attack to free the suspects, had prompted the authorities to hold the four in the country’s main maximum security prison and to have the court sit in the Lebanese capital.
The trial is set to reconvene in Beirut on Tuesday.
Lebanese army pounds Palestinian camp
The Lebanese army continues to target jihadists in the Nahr el-Bared camp in Tripoli.
By Bassem Mroue for Associated Press
Lebanese soldiers fire a machine gun as they stand on their tank at a main entrance to the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp Sunday.
TRIPOLI, Lebanon – Artillery and machine gun fire echoed around a crowded Palestinian refugee camp Tuesday as fighting resumed between besieging Lebanese troops and Islamic militants holed up inside, ending a nighttime lull.
Lebanese troops pounded with artillery at daybreak the suspected positions of the Fatah Islam militants, seeking to destroy the group with al-Qaida ties or force them out of the Nahr el-Bared camp on the outskirts of this northern port city, Lebanon’s second largest. A plume of black smoke billowed from an unknown target in the camp.
The army brought in reinforcements from other regions. Two trucks towing field artillery were seen heading toward Tripoli on the coastal highway late Monday.
The renewed fighting ended an overnight lull amid efforts for an informal cease-fire between the two sides. It was not known what sparked the exchanges.
Palestinian factions attempted to broker a cease-fire. The representative of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, Abu Ahmed Rifai, said Fatah Islam militants pledged to cease firing and withdraw from positions facing Lebanese troops. A senior officer at Lebanese army command would not say a cease-fire was reached but repeated the military’s stance that it will not shoot if it does not come under fire.
Islamic militants, security forces battle in Lebanon
A Palestinian Islamic militant shouts slogans during a protest in Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon Tuesday, May 22, 2007, against the Lebanese army siege and bombardment of the northern Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp. Artillery and machine gun fire echoed around the northern Nahr el-Bared refugee camp for a third straight day Tuesday, while angry Palestinians burned car tires in two other camps in an ominous sign that the trouble could spread across Lebanon. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
