The London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat today quotes a Lebanese security source as saying that there is a connection between the Fatah Al-Islam group and Al-Qaeda.
The source said that Fatah Al-Islam's split from Fatah Intifada is strictly a media ploy aimed at preventing any consequences from the exposure of the organization's goals – one of which is to harm UNIFIL in southern Lebanon.
The source claimed that the organization is training groups to be sent to Iraq, and that this training is being carried out at Fatah Intifada camps on the Syria-Lebanon border.
The source added that activists from the Jond Al-Sham group had joined Fatah Al-Islam.
Source: Al-Hayat, London, March 23, 2007
For more on Fatah Al-Islam, see "Syria Denies Lebanese Charges That Fatah Al-Islam in Lebanon is Connected to Syrian Security Apparatuses, Claims Group Belongs to Al-Qaeda", "Fatah Al-Islam Leader: Group Unconnected to Any Regime or Organization, Aims to Fly the Banner of "There Is No God but Allah" Everywhere in the World"
