Lebanon: Fatah Islam leader fled camp fighting; DNA test on body negative

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The leader of the al-Qaida inspired Fatah Islam group fled a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon a day before its fall into the hands of Lebanese army earlier this month, the prosecutor general said Monday. Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza also said in a statement that a DNA test on a body suspected to be that of militant leader Shaker al-Absi proved it was not his. The finding countered earlier reports by al-Absi's wife, who had identified a body in a hospital as her husband's. Mirza also said that a recently captured Fatah Islam militant had told authorities that al-Absi fled the camp the night of Sept. 1. Dozens of Fatah Islam militants were killed as they staged a mass breakout from the Nahr el-Bared camp the next day.