Profile: Fatah al-Islam

Fatah al-Islam militants in the Nahr al-Bared camp in Lebanon

Fatah al-Islam emerged in November 2006 when it split from Fatah al-Intifada (Fatah Uprising), a Syrian-backed Palestinian group based in Lebanon.

But it first came to prominence in May when it began fighting the Lebanese army from its stronghold in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp north of Tripoli.

More than 400 people, including civilians, died in clashes between the two sides before the Lebanese army took control of the camp on 2 September.

Fatah al-Islam reportedly had between 150 and 200 armed men when the fighting began. By the end of August, Lebanese officials said only 30 fighters remained in the camp, though other estimates put the figure slightly higher.

FATAH AL-ISLAM Split from Palestinian group Fatah al-Intifada in late 2006 In May, had 150-200 armed men in Nahr al-Bared camp Denies al-Qaeda links but says it endorses its ideas Has links with Syrian intelligence, Lebanon says

The violence, which also caused more than 30,000 Palestinian refugees to flee the camp, was Lebanon's worst internal strife since the 1975-1991 civil war.

Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon are often a haven for armed groups. Lebanese security forces do not enter the camps, only guarding their perimeters.

Jordan killing

Fatah al-Islam is led by Shaker al-Abssi, a well-known Palestinian militant who Lebanese authorities believe escaped the camp the day before it was stormed by the Lebanese army.

A body identified as Abssi's was later confirmed by DNA tests not to be his.

Born near the West Bank city of Jericho in 1955, Abssi spent his childhood in Palestinian refugee camps outside the Jordanian capital, Amman.

Abssi trained as a pilot with the Libyan air force in the 1970s

In the 1970s, Abssi was sent to Libya to study and train to become a fighter pilot. He later flew Libyan warplanes against Chad when the two countries fought a war during the 1980s.

After training pilots in Nicaragua and the former North Yemen, Abssi settled in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

During this time, he is believed to have become a close associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, with whom he allegedly helped plan the assassination of a US diplomat, Laurence Foley, in Amman in 2002.

The two men were later sentenced to death in absentia in Jordan for the crime.

Abssi was also arrested in Syria in 2002 for being a member of a banned Islamist group and sentenced to three years in jail.

Following his release in 2005, Abssi moved to Lebanon and joined Fatah al-Intifada. He broke away from the Syrian-backed group in November 2006 and founded Fatah al-Islam.

Islamist aims

Abssi has said that his group has no organisational links to al-Qaeda, but agrees with the Sunni Islamist militant group's aims and ideology of fighting and killing non-Muslims.

The siege of Nahr al-Bared left much of the camp in ruins

Fatah al-Islam's statements have also appeared on Islamist web sites known for publishing al-Qaeda statements.

Abssi has said that Fatah al-Islam has two main aims: reform of the Palestinian refugee community in Lebanon in line with Islamic Sharia law, and confronting Israel.

His group also aims to drive the US and its interests out of the Islamic world.

The Lebanese government has linked Fatah al-Islam to the Syrian intelligence services. Syrian officials and Fatah al-Islam deny the connection.

The Beirut government says four Syrian members of Fatah al-Islam were arrested and confessed to the twin bus bombings in February that killed three people in a Christian area near the capital.

The members of the group are believed to be from mixed national origin, but a Lebanese minister has said that "many" of them are Lebanese.