An al-Qaida-linked Lebanese group said its fugitive leader may have been detained or killed in Syria, according to a statement posted on an Islamic militant Web site Tuesday.
In the statement purportedly by Fatah Islam, the group said its leader, Shaker al-Absi, fled Lebanon in 2007 and went to Syria.
He was later ambushed by Syrian security forces in Jermana, a small town south of Damascus, according to the statement.
It said al-Absi may have been detained, but most likely, he was killed.
"We don't know his fate but we believe he probably was martyred, but we don't have solid evidence," said the written statement, which could not be independently verified.
The statement was posted on a Web site commonly used by militant groups including al-Qaida and didn't provide further details or say when the ambush took place.
Al-Absi has been on the run since Fatah Islam battled the Lebanese army last year in the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr el-Bared in northern Lebanon.
The more than three-month siege that ended in September 2007. The Lebanese government says about 220 militants and 168 Lebanese soldiers were killed, while Palestinian officials say 47 Palestinian civilians died in the fighting.
Syria also recently blamed Fatah Islam for a Damascus car bombing in September that killed 17 people.
Authorities say Fatah Islam, which set up base in Nahr el-Bared in late 2006, is made up of Muslim militants of various nationalities.
They say al-Absi is a Palestinian linked to the late leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He was sentenced to death in absentia in Jordan for his involvement in the 2002 murder of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman.
In the Web statement, the group said it elected Abu Mohammed Awad as its leader. It was not immediately clear who Awad was, and the statement provided no further details.
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий