Shaker al-Abssi

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Shaker al-Abssi (1955-2008?) (Arabic: شاكر العبسي‎) was a veteran Palestinian guerrilla and Fatah al-Islam's leader. On 10 December, 2008 Fatah al-Islam announced that al-Abssi was believed to have been killed or arrested in ambush by Syrian security forces.[1][2]

Biography

On June 21, 2007, al-Abssi and 15 other accused Fatah al-Islam members were formally charged[3] by Lebanese State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza in a criminal case accusing them of carrying out the February 13, 2007 bus bombings in the mountain village of Ain-Alaq. Al-Abbsi and other defendants were also charged with bombing two civilian buses on the eve of a Cedar Revolution rally planned to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri.

On September 2, 2007, al-Abssi was allegedly killed in the north of Tripoli. A body believed to be al-Abassi's has undergone DNA and blood tests, and the Lebanese army confirmed it to be his. A total of 39 Islamist militants were killed by Lebanese troops in a pre-dawn attempt to escape from the Palestinian refugee camp in which they had been besieged for three months by the Lebanese army.[4][5]

However, a DNA test carried out on the body did not confirm his death. The body discovered belonged to a man in his thirties, while Absi was fifty-six at the time. The DNA was also compared to samples from his brother and daughter and found not to match. [6]

In October 2008, al-Abssi was reported captured in Syria. [7] However, other reports had him still on the run. In November 2008, after a car bombing in Damascus, al-Abssi's daughter Wafa was shown on Syrian TV along with other purported Fatah al-Islam members.[8] On 10 December 2008 the group said Shaker al-Abssi and two other members had been ambushed by the Syrian security forces in the small town of Jermana, south of Damascus, and that he had been killed or arrested.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Fatah al-Islam leader believed dead. Al Jazeera English. Accessed 10 December, 2008.
  2. ↑ The inside story of Fatah al Islam’s leader Shaker al-Absi | Ya Libnan | Lebanon News Live from Beirut
  3. ↑ "16 Reputed Fatah al-Islam Members Face Criminal Charges". Fatah al-Islam. 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2007-07-07. 
  4. ↑ "Fatah al-Islam chief among siege dead". . 2007-09-02. 
  5. ↑ "Lebanese troops crush Islamists in siege camp". . 2007-09-02. 
  6. ↑ DNA proves Fatah Islam leader not killed in northern Lebanon fighting - Israel News, Ynetnews
  7. ↑ Al Qaeda mastermind said to be captured in Syria
  8. ↑ "Babylon & Beyond". Los Angeles Times. 2008-11-07. Retrieved 2010-05-23. 
  9. ↑ "Fatah al-Islam says leader 'dead'". BBC News. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2010-05-23. 

External links

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