TRIPOLI, Lebanon, (AFP) — Fatah al-Islam's crushing defeat a month ago after a bloody showdown with the Lebanese army has forced other Sunni radical groups to go further underground, experts say.
The support of Islamist groups for Fatah al-Islam has been fading since the September 2 fall of Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon after 15 weeks of fierce battles with the army that cost around 400 lives.
Omar Bakri, an Islamist preacher barred from Britain for his radical views, said Fatah al-Islam could not count on other Sunni groups, even those with similar radical ideologies such as Osbat al-Ansar which is based in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon.
"I don't think Fatah al-Islam and Osbat al-Ansar have any relationship whatsoever, because it is in time of need that you see who is your friend," Bakri said.
"And nobody has offered support to them, a lot of people even joined together to condemn Fatah al-Islam," he said.
Bakri is a Lebanese of Syrian origin who infamously praised the Al-Qaeda hijackers who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States as the "Magnificent 19."
He headed the radical Al-Muhajiroun group in London until 2004. He was declared an undesirable by London and deported, and has since lived in the northern port city of Tripoli where he runs a bookshop and religious centre.
Bernard Rougier, a French expert on Islamists in Lebanon, said that Osbat al-Ansar "hides its Jihadist (holy war) agenda, while they continue to operate in Iraq."
Osbat al-Ansar did not want to jeopardize what he called underground operations for the recruitment and export of young Islamists from Lebanon.
Bakri said that Fatah al-Islam, suspected of seeking to establish an Islamic emirate in northern Lebanon, had unwillingly engaged in the armed confrontation with the Lebanese army.
"They had no ideological objective. It was a reaction to what they saw as the aggression against them and they believed they had the right to react by attacking the Lebanese army," he told AFP.
The battle between the army and Fatah al-Islam broke out after government troops raided a militant hideout in Tripoli on May 20 following a bank robbery in north Lebanon.
The same day, Fatah al-Islam responded with a killing spree against troops -- many of them off-duty servicemen -- in a move that prompted the military to launch an offensive that crushed the group's bastion in Nahr al-Bared.
An expert on Islamist affairs who did not wish to be identified said "the security forces took the initiative (to attack Fatah al-Islam) after realising that the group had become dangerous.
"They were more than 1,000 militants," said the expert. "Without the battle, they would have been 2,000 or 3,000 today."
Bakri said that Lebanon's Sunni radical groups had already been keeping a low profile since the army crushed Islamists in the northern region of Donniyeh in 2000.
"The lessons of Donniyeh and Fatah al-Islam will send a signal to the Sunnis: don't embark on any adventure because it will be a deadly one and no one is going to support you, even Sunnis will stand against you," he said.
"Lebanon is not the right place, not a safe haven for any project. It's a safe haven to live and enjoy living, to listen to Islamic hymns if you are Islamist, or to (pop stars) Nancy Ajram and Haifa Wehbeh if you are secular."
The support of Islamist groups for Fatah al-Islam has been fading since the September 2 fall of Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon after 15 weeks of fierce battles with the army that cost around 400 lives.
Omar Bakri, an Islamist preacher barred from Britain for his radical views, said Fatah al-Islam could not count on other Sunni groups, even those with similar radical ideologies such as Osbat al-Ansar which is based in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon.
"I don't think Fatah al-Islam and Osbat al-Ansar have any relationship whatsoever, because it is in time of need that you see who is your friend," Bakri said.
"And nobody has offered support to them, a lot of people even joined together to condemn Fatah al-Islam," he said.
Bakri is a Lebanese of Syrian origin who infamously praised the Al-Qaeda hijackers who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States as the "Magnificent 19."
He headed the radical Al-Muhajiroun group in London until 2004. He was declared an undesirable by London and deported, and has since lived in the northern port city of Tripoli where he runs a bookshop and religious centre.
Bernard Rougier, a French expert on Islamists in Lebanon, said that Osbat al-Ansar "hides its Jihadist (holy war) agenda, while they continue to operate in Iraq."
Osbat al-Ansar did not want to jeopardize what he called underground operations for the recruitment and export of young Islamists from Lebanon.
Bakri said that Fatah al-Islam, suspected of seeking to establish an Islamic emirate in northern Lebanon, had unwillingly engaged in the armed confrontation with the Lebanese army.
"They had no ideological objective. It was a reaction to what they saw as the aggression against them and they believed they had the right to react by attacking the Lebanese army," he told AFP.
The battle between the army and Fatah al-Islam broke out after government troops raided a militant hideout in Tripoli on May 20 following a bank robbery in north Lebanon.
The same day, Fatah al-Islam responded with a killing spree against troops -- many of them off-duty servicemen -- in a move that prompted the military to launch an offensive that crushed the group's bastion in Nahr al-Bared.
An expert on Islamist affairs who did not wish to be identified said "the security forces took the initiative (to attack Fatah al-Islam) after realising that the group had become dangerous.
"They were more than 1,000 militants," said the expert. "Without the battle, they would have been 2,000 or 3,000 today."
Bakri said that Lebanon's Sunni radical groups had already been keeping a low profile since the army crushed Islamists in the northern region of Donniyeh in 2000.
"The lessons of Donniyeh and Fatah al-Islam will send a signal to the Sunnis: don't embark on any adventure because it will be a deadly one and no one is going to support you, even Sunnis will stand against you," he said.
"Lebanon is not the right place, not a safe haven for any project. It's a safe haven to live and enjoy living, to listen to Islamic hymns if you are Islamist, or to (pop stars) Nancy Ajram and Haifa Wehbeh if you are secular."
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