SOURCE: The Washington Post
Syria denied on Wednesday Lebanese allegations that it had links to a group accused of bombing two buses near Beirut last month and said it was hunting the group down for ties to al Qaeda.
Lebanon's Interior Minister Hassan al-Sabaa said on Tuesday that four Syrians who confessed to the bombing that killed three people, belonged to the Fateh al-Islam group, which he described as "part of the Syrian intelligence-security apparatus."
A fifth man, also Syrian, was on the run, Sabaa had said. Fateh al-Islam broke away last year from Fateh al-Intifada, another Palestinian group.
"These allegations are completely false. They're part of the campaign of lies against Syria," Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majeed told the official Syrian news agency.
"Fateh al-Islam is an organization of al Qaeda that plans to conduct terrorism operation in Syria. It was discovered in August 2002," Abdel Majeed said.
He said several members of the group were arrested over the last few years and an arrest warrant was issued in January for Shaker al-Absi, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, who used to be in contact with the late al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Absi already served a three-year jail term in Syria for belonging to Fatah al-Islam, Abdel Majeed said.
Fateh al-Islam denied any link to the bus bombings in the Lebanese Christian village of Ain Alaq, which occurred a day before the second anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
A United Nations investigation implicated Lebanese and Syrian security officials in Hariri's February 14, 2005 killing. Damascus denies any involvement.
Hariri's killing triggered international pressure that forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in 2005, ending a 29-year presence.
Syria denied on Wednesday Lebanese allegations that it had links to a group accused of bombing two buses near Beirut last month and said it was hunting the group down for ties to al Qaeda.
Lebanon's Interior Minister Hassan al-Sabaa said on Tuesday that four Syrians who confessed to the bombing that killed three people, belonged to the Fateh al-Islam group, which he described as "part of the Syrian intelligence-security apparatus."
A fifth man, also Syrian, was on the run, Sabaa had said. Fateh al-Islam broke away last year from Fateh al-Intifada, another Palestinian group.
"These allegations are completely false. They're part of the campaign of lies against Syria," Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majeed told the official Syrian news agency.
"Fateh al-Islam is an organization of al Qaeda that plans to conduct terrorism operation in Syria. It was discovered in August 2002," Abdel Majeed said.
He said several members of the group were arrested over the last few years and an arrest warrant was issued in January for Shaker al-Absi, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, who used to be in contact with the late al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Absi already served a three-year jail term in Syria for belonging to Fatah al-Islam, Abdel Majeed said.
Fateh al-Islam denied any link to the bus bombings in the Lebanese Christian village of Ain Alaq, which occurred a day before the second anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
A United Nations investigation implicated Lebanese and Syrian security officials in Hariri's February 14, 2005 killing. Damascus denies any involvement.
Hariri's killing triggered international pressure that forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in 2005, ending a 29-year presence.