The Destablization of Lebanon has begun

The outbreak of Islamist violence in the Palestinian refugee camp in Nahr al-Bared in Northern Lebanon and now in Ain al-Hilweh in the South has been created to break the fledgling Lebanese Army. The violence started at the Nahr al Bared camp in Tripoli happened almost concurrently with the UN Security Council's passage of the creation of the Rafik Hariri tribunal to try the killers of the former Prime Minister of Lebanon. Syria warned the Security Council that Lebanon would be destablized if the resolution passed. Syria has been accused of being behind the assassination.

The Islamic militants of Fatah al Islam that are based in Nahr al Bared are an offshoot of Fatah al Intifadah a pro-Syrian Palestinian group. Its leader Sheik Abbsi spent three years in a Syrian jail until he was mysteriously released and moved to Tripoli. Syria usually keeps Islamic fundamentalists in jail for much longer terms. In regards to its coziness with Syria, Fatah al Islam military leader, Abu Hurieira, mentioned in an interview that they are friendly with the pro-Syrian Shiite group Hezbollah despite it being Shiite. He even mentioned that they will not be attacked unlike the Christians and other sects-MEMRI There have been opinion pieces in the counterterrorism blog and other websites that predicted Ain al Hilweh refugee camp was going to be the next hotspot. Ain al Hilweh is a Palestinian camp that is a hornets nest for Islamic extremists and other militias that are loyal to Syria. The flare up in the South is to make the army stretched thin renderring them incapable of responding to other potential crises. Many people who support the Pro-Western government of Foaud Saniora fear that if the army can't solve these problems, Syria will use its well armed allies in the Lebanese opposition, to restore its hegemony of the country.

There is a possibility that violence may spread to other Palestinian refugee camps. Terrorism has increased in Beirut and other areas. Expect some more tragic events in the coming days...stay tuned