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Scott Sanford May 14th, 2009 | Arab media, Lebanon SNIPPET: "Falluja Forum contributor Abu al-Ghadiyah recently posted an article titled “Transformations of ‘Usbat al-Ansar” that the Lebanese paper al-Akhbar published in March. The article was part of a larger series of reports that journalist Hasan ‘Aliq wrote regarding the political and security climate in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp Ain al-Hilweh. He argues that the Islamist position is growing stronger in the camp due to changes in their attitudes towards the Lebanese state. However, Fatah attempts to check the Islamists’ growing influence have resulted in bloodshed and instability." SNIPPET: "Lebanon’s...

The Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal reports that Lebanese security apparatuses and the Lebanese army have recently received reports on intentions to strike at UNIFIL in southern Lebanon.

Three people killed during armed clashes in a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. At least seven others were wounded. Palestinian sources in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp said among those killed was Abul Haijah, an officer in the camp's security committee of Fatah movement. They said two attackers, recently dismissed from Fatah, entered Abul Haijah's office and opened fire with automatic machine guns, killing him instantly and injuring five other people inside the office. Other reports said the two were members of the islamist Usbat al-Ansar group. The sources said one assailant fled and the other was seized. After the...

Commander using Internet to direct attacks ‘I don’t believe in this truce at all,’ Maqdah said. ‘Resistance will continue’ AIN AL-HILWEH REFUGEE CAMP, Lebanon: A veteran Palestinian guerrilla commander is using the internet to fund and guide rogue cells of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade from his headquarters in this teeming refugee camp near Sidon. The cells, based mainly in the northern West Bank around Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem, reject the Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire and have claimed responsibility for several shootings since it came into effect Sunday, including the killing of a Bulgarian worker Monday. The attacks are an embarrassment for the...

Fatah on Wednesday relieved its senior commander at the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, Colonel Mounir Maqdah, from his post and asked him to hand over the main checkpoint at the camp’s lower entrance. Palestinian sources said the decision was made by Brigadier Sultan Abul-Ainayn, the secretary-general of Fatah, with the approval of the Palestinian Authority’s Lebanon Committee. Abul-Ainayn was sentenced in absentia to death by Lebanese authorities for forming an armed group. The decision is believed to habe been taken because of Maqdah’s lack of participation in the recent clash between fundamentalist groups, Esbat al-Nour and Esbat al-Ansar, and Fatah....

2 die in fatah attempt to assassinate esbat al-nour leader Life was slowly returning to normal Sunday at the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp following the attempted murder of Abdullah Shridi, leader of Esbat al-Nour, by the Fatah organization. Shridi and some of his aides had fallen into an ambush by the Fatah group Saturday, which led to the death of two people and the wounding of two of Shridi’s followers. Shridi, who was earlier reported as dead or dying, survived the incident. He was initially taken to a makeshift hospital within the camp, but had to be transferred after...

The Ain-al-Hilweh home of a Fatah public relations official, Lieutenant Zeid Othman, was the target of a bomb attack Sunday. On Saturday, another bomb shook the home of Humayed Khatib. The bombs caused only slight damage. A few months ago, Khatib’s brother, Shukri, was killed in mysterious circumstances. The situation in the camp has also been aggravated by a clash between a group calling itself the Esbat al-Ansar group and the Fatah Movement, loyal to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. A meeting among all the camp’s factions is expected to take place soon to discuss the deteriorating security situation.

A concussion grenade exploded outside the office of the UN Relief and Works Agency in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp on Sunday, damaging the building complex but causing no casualties, witnesses said. Details were not immediately available regarding who was responsible for the incident, the second in the past two weeks targeting UNRWA, which has recently cut its services. The blast occurred in the early hours of the morning, when the office and surrounding streets were largely empty. Armed factions who have effective control of Ain al-Hilweh fanned out following the blast. Refugees have staged protests in recent weeks...

Islamic groups exert growing influence An alliance of Islamist factions is claiming ground in the political arena After three days of clashes in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp between Fatah members and Islamist insurgents, a new political dynamic has emerged, leaving Fatah, which has long enjoyed unilateral control of the camp, confronting the growing influence of Islamist groups. Observers say that an alliance of Islamist factions, including Esbat al-Ansar, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Sheikh Jamal Khattab’s movement, has entered the camp’s political arena and is proving to be just as ­ if not more than ­ influential as Fatah....

GOTTA SEE THIS -The War for Enduring Freedom+ 7/20/02 [Part 2] Kabul, Shomali, Jammu, Lebanon, Ain al-Hilweh, Vanilla sky FRONT PAGE NEWS - Kabul: Afghans in the water and their first lottery run by Afghan Red Crescent Society, Shomali village, Jammu, India, and Islamic "peace" Lebanon: Ain al-Hilweh, and the Hilton that never made it. Vanilla sky, Ted and Alcor BREAKING NEWS: Part 1 is here ============ AFGHANISTAN ================ In Kabul, Afghans are cooling off. In Kabul, Afghans had their first lottery run by Afghan Red Crescent Society, who scammed 100,000 tickets, for a car, bicycles, and a few televisions....