The US State Department today announced the designation of Usamah Amin al Shihabi, who has "recently been appointed head of Syria-based al Nusrah Front's Palestinian wing in Lebanon."
Al Shihabi is also described as being an "associate" of Fatah al Islam (FAI), "a Lebanese-based militant group formed in 2006, whose ultimate goal is the institution of Islamist sharia law in the Palestinian refugee camps and the destruction of Israel." The State Department explains that al Shihabi "at times has played a key leadership role in the organization."
The ties between Fatah al Islam and the Al Nusrah Front, which is one of al Qaeda's official branches inside Syria, are unsurprising. Members of Fatah al Islam, which is linked to al Qaeda and al Qaeda in Iraq, have been killed while fighting in Iraq and Syria. Some of Fatah al Islam's earliest leaders are known to have been close to Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the deceased head of al Qaeda in Iraq. [See LWJ report, Fatah al Islam emir killed while waging jihad in Syria.]