The United States on Wednesday blacklisted Fatah al-Islam top member Usamah al-Shihabi as a “global terrorist.”
“The Department of State has designated Fatah al-Islam (FAI) associate Usamah Amin al-Shihabi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism,” it said in a statement.
“Al-Shihabi is an associate of 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, and at times has played a key leadership role in the organization,” the State Department added.
Shihabi is wanted by Lebanese authorities on multiple arrest warrants. He has been described as the “emir of Fatah al-Islam” in the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp.
According to media reports, the extremist militant shuttles between Ain el-Hilweh and Syria.
In Its statement, the State Department said “he has also recently been appointed head of Syria-based al-Nusra Front’s Palestinian wing in Lebanon.”
Al-Nusra Front was formed by al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) in late 2011 as a proxy for AQI’s activities in Syria. On December 11, 2012, the State Department blacklisted al-Nusra as a foreign terrorist organization.
The consequences of Wednesday's designation include a prohibition against U.S. persons engaging in transactions with al-Shihabi, and “the freezing of all property and interests in property of al-Shihabi that are in the United States, or come within the United States or the possession or control of U.S. persons.”
In August 2011, Shihabi was appointed as the “emir” of Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon, succeeding Abdul Rahman Awad, who was killed in an army ambush in the Bekaa in 2010.
The Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon was almost totally destroyed during a months-long conflict between the Lebanese army and the al-Qaida-inspired Fatah al-Islam in 2007.
The fighting killed some 400 people, including 168 soldiers. Some Islamist leaders escaped despite the army siege of the camp.
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