Battleground Lebanon- If it’s not Iranian-backed Hezbollah in the south creating havoc, it’s the Saudi-backed Fatah al-Islam terrorists in the north.
Smoke rises from Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, 06 July 2007. Lebanese authorities have identified the bodies of 10 Saudis among Fatah al-Islam militants killed in fighting with the army in northern Lebanon.(AFP/File/Ramzi Haidar)
Lebanese authorities reported that 10 Saudi nationals have been identified among those Fatah al-Islam members killed in fighting in northen Lebanon.
Ya Libnan reported:
Lebanese authorities have identified the bodies of 10 Saudis among Fatah al-Islam militants killed in fighting with the army in northern Lebanon, a senior security official said on Monday.
“We have identified the bodies of 10 Saudis among the 27 bodies taken by police” since clashes first erupted between the Islamists and Lebanese armed forces on May 20, he said on condition of anonymity.
The official said 17 bodies of Fatah al-Islam combatants were found in the main northern port city of Tripoli and 10 others nearby.
“Police have not taken away the body of any combatant from inside Nahr al-Bared,” he said, referring to the impoverished camp near Tripoli where clashes are continuing.
He said the body of Fatah al-Islam spokesman Abu Salim Taha, who has been reportedly killed in the clashes, was not among the 27 bodies recovered by police.
“I don’t think that Abu Salim is Saudi. He is probably a Palestinian national,” he said.
The Saudi newspaper Al-Watan said on Sunday that six Saudi militants had been killed in the clashes, including Abu Salim Taha whose real name is Al-Hamadi Abdullah al-Dussari, 23.
“We are running DNA tests in order to identify the combattants, most of whom were carrying false passports or false identity cards,” the Lebanese security official said.