Immediately following the assassination of Rafiq Hariri , al-Qaeda ?in the Land of Shem? (?Shem? refers to historical Greater Syria, including modern Syria , Lebanon , western Jordan , and Israel’s West Bank ) quickly issued a sternly-worded statement denying involvement in the operation. ?The attempt of the guilty party to cast the blame on one of the Jihadi, Salafi organizations in the Land of Shem for what happened today in Beirut is a complete deception, [obvious] for a number of reasons,? read the statement, ?First: the Jihadi organizations in the Land of Shem have priorities for operations, and one of these priorities is not to blow up cars in the streets of cities. Second, as is well known, our priorities right now are to aid the brothers in Iraq [Country Profile] and Palestine with money and souls and other things. The enemy of the [Islamic nation] is angry because we continue to pass this support to them. So they decided to plan to strike the Jihadists in the Land of Shem by blaming this attack on them.? The group continued: ?Third, our methods are in the tradition of our brothers in the Arabian Peninsula. They do not include nor will they ever include that like what happened today,? making a reference to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia that originally set the modus operandi and ideology for franchise or copycat jihadi groups. The last reason the group gave referred to Osama Bin Laden?s assertion in a December statement that the idea to attack ?the towers in New York? was inspired by the American invasion on Lebanon: ?Fourth: The al-Qaeda organization did what it did in New York and Washington [Terrorist Incident], sacrificed its best men, because of Beirut. It would therefore not make any sense for us to blow up the streets and buildings of Beirut? (proprietary translation available at Intel Report).

As the statement says, the primary function of al-Qaeda in this region appears to be funneling support to Iraq and the Palestinian territories. Al-Qaeda in Lebanon associates have been arrested for recruiting young Lebanese to fight in Iraq. However, they have reserved most of their violent activities with Fatah members in the Ein al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp. They are not very active in Lebanon, and little is known about them.