Al Qaeda-linked Fatah Islam Suspected In Lebanon Bombing - 18 Dead

Back in January of this year, the leader of Fatah Islam in Lebanon, Shaker Youssef al-Absi, warned the Lebanese army that they would pay dearly for the assault on the Fatah Islam refugee camps in northern Lebanon and today's bomb blast in Lebanon which killed 10 Lebanese army personnel and 18 civilians appears to be al-Absi keeping his word. Here's the details from Breitbart:

A roadside bomb packed with nuts and bolts exploded near a bus in this northern city Wednesday, killing 18 soldiers and civilians in Lebanon's deadliest bombing in more than three years.

Security officials told The Associated Press that 10 soldiers and eight civilians were killed and 46 people wounded, while a senior military officer said 15 died. The security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak with reporters, said several bodies had been torn to pieces, complicating the count.
The army described the blast as a "terrorist attack directly targeting the army."

Now, there's a lot of talk about this bombing being a diversion for the Lebanese talks with Syria to normalize relations but I don't buy it. Fatah Islam is al Qaeda in a different uniform and they were seeking revenge on the military - sure, they are after Suleiman who leads Lebanon now and who was leading the military when the Fatah Islam camps were routed, but al Qaeda operations don't usually make simple policy statements, they are more into shock and awe and retribution. This certainly was a signal to Suleiman that he isn't safe and neither is his army.

Al-Qaida ally suspected as bomb kills 18 Lebanese

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) - A roadside bomb packed with nuts and bolts exploded near a bus in this northern city Wednesday, killing 18 soldiers and civilians in Lebanon's deadliest bombing in more than three years.
Many suspected the attack was staged by an al-Qaida-inspired group to avenge a 2007 military offensive. Some questioned whether it was an attempt to disrupt a trip by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to Syria later in the day to patch up relations between the neighboring nations.
That visit brought a key agreement for the two countries to establish full diplomatic relations for the first time, a move that could ease tensions that have fueled Lebanon's turmoil.
On Tuesday, the Lebanese parliament approved a new national unity government in Beirut that groups pro-Western factions and Syria's ally, the Hezbollah militant group—another step that Lebanese hope will move the country past three years of political crisis.
But the attack in Lebanon's second largest city cast a shadow over political progress.
The bomb, detonated by remote control, went off around 8 a.m. during rush hour just as the bus pulled to the curb to pick up passengers on a main street in Tripoli. It flung shrapnel through the bus and the nearby sidewalk crowded with people headed to work.
The bus—coming from Akkar, a region farther north where many military personnel live—was pockmarked with holes, its windows shattered. Soldiers and bystanders carried away the dozens of wounded on downtown Banks Street, which was littered with glass.
"I jumped out of my car and saw bodies in the streets," said Nabil Sebaei, owner of the nearby Rivoli theater. "Wherever I saw a body moving, I helped carry them to a car to drive them to the hospital."
"There is no religion in the world that accepts such acts," Sebaei said, visibly shaken.
Security officials told The Associated Press that 10 soldiers and eight civilians were killed and 46 people wounded, while a senior military officer said 15 died. The security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak with reporters, said several bodies had been torn to pieces, complicating the count.
The army described the blast as a "terrorist attack directly targeting the army."
Suspicion quickly fell on Fatah Islam, an al-Qaida-inspired Sunni extremist group that soldiers drove out of the nearby Palestinian refugee camp, Nahr el-Bared, in a monthslong battle last year. The fighting killed hundreds of people and destroyed much of the camp.
Fatah Islam leader Shaker Youssef al-Absi, who is on the run, warned of vengeance in a January audiotape, saying his fighters would "hunt down the followers of Suleiman," who was army commander during the fighting. Al-Absi and four Syrian militants were charged in March with a double bus bombing last year that killed three people.
However, pro-Syrian Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said the timing of the explosion before Suleiman's two-day visit to Damascus was meant to prevent "repairing the Lebanese-Syrian relations."
Suleiman's trip for talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad was the first by a Lebanese president in three years.
During their talks, the two leaders agreed to establish full diplomatic relations—something the countries haven't had since they both gained independence from France in the 1940s, Assad adviser Buthaina Shaaban said.
The agreement was a victory for Syria's opponents in Lebanon, who said Damascus' failure to allow formal ties showed it didn't recognize Lebanon's sovereignty and considered it part of Syria.