Osbat al-Ansar
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Osbat al-Ansar (League of the Partisans) is a Lebanon-based sunni fundamentalist group established in the early 1990s which professes the Salifi form of Islam. [1][2] The organization is largely based in Ain al-Hilweh.[3] Osbat al-Ansar is on the United States' list of terrorist organizations for alleged connections with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, American administration decided to freeze all assets of Osbat al-Ansar following the attacks on September 11th, 2001.[4][5] The group has also reportedly received funding from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.[6] The organization has also been proscribed as a terrorist group by Australia, the United Nations, the United Kingdom and Canada.[7] Osbat al-Ansar is also connected with fundamentalist groups Osbat al-Nour, Jund Ash Sham, the Dinniyeh Group and Takfir wal Hijra.[8] Osbat al-Ansar is led by Ahmed Abd al-Karim al-Saadi, however since his dissapearance in 1999 the group has been led by his brother Abu Tariq.[9]. Osbat al-Ansar is estimated to have between 100 and 200 members, mostly Palestinian refugees in Ain al-Hilweh.[10]
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[edit] Acts of violence claimed by or attributed to Osbat al-Ansar
Osbat al-Ansar gained public interest in Lebanon after members assassinated the head of al-Ahbash in January of 1995.[11] Khaled Hamed, Ahmed Al-Kassem and Mounir Abboud three members of Osbat al-Ansar were hung after being convicted by Lebanese authorities of the murder.[12]
Members of Osbat al-Ansar shot and killed four judges on June 8, 1999 in the city of Sidon. The assassins survived and escaped back to Ain al-Hilweh.[13][14]
On the September 8, 1999 the Custom office in Sidon was bombed.[15]
On January 3, 2000 Russian embassy in Beirut was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade in protest of the Russian military campaign in Chechnya.[16][17]
Church bombing in Sidon on October 17, 2001.[18]
The November 21, 2002 murder of US missionary Bonnie Witherall in Sidon.[19][20]
According to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Osbat al-Ansar is planning future terrorist attacks.[21]
[edit] Other actions by Osbat al-Ansar
In 2002 a representative of Osbat al-Ansar handed over Badieh Hamadeh, a shiite living in Ain al-Hilweh suspected of killing three Lebanese soldiers, to Lebanese authorities. A spokesman for Osbat al-Ansar stated that the decision to make the hand over was to "spare the camp any bloodshed".[22]
[edit] Prevented attacks
In 2001 Daniel Ahmad Samarji, and Bilal Ali Othman, were arrested in the northern city of Tripoli for planning terrorist acts, illegal dealing in weapons of war and discharging firearms.[23]
[edit] Ideology
According to the Australian Government and the Canadian Government the goal of Osbat al-Ansar is "the establishment of a radical Sunni Islamic state in Lebanon." as well as "Overthrowing the Lebanese government and preventing what they perceive as anti-Sunni Islamic influences in Lebanon".[24][25]
Osbat al-Ansar professes the Salifi form of Islam which is concidered by some to be a sect of Wahabism, the widely practiced form of Islam in Saudi Arabia. [26][27]
