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{{Infobox militant organization
| name = League of the Partisans<br>عصبة الأنصار<br>Osbat al-Ansar
| logo = Asbat al-Ansar flag.jpg
| imagesize = 
| caption = 
| dates = 1994–present
| leader = [[Hisham Shreidi]] <small>(1986–1991)</small><br>[[Ahmed Abd al-Karim al-Saadi]] <small>(1991–1999)</small><br>Abu Tarek al-Saadi <small>(1999–2023)</small>
| motives = The creation of an [[Islamic state]] in [[Lebanon]]
| area = [[Lebanon]]
| ideology = [[Salafi movement#Salafi activists|Salafi Islamism]]<br>[[Jihadism]]<br>[[Sunni]] [[Islamism]]
| crimes = [[Assassinations]], [[Bombings]]
| status = Designated as a terrorist group by [[Australia]], [[Bahrain]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Russia]], the [[United Arab Emirates]], the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United Nations]]
| strength = <2000 members<ref name="DoS-2014-Asbat al-Ansar"/>
}}
'''Osbat al-Ansar''' or ''' Asbat al-Ansar''' ({{Langx|ar|عصبة الأنصار|ʿUṣbat al-ʾAnṣār}}, "League of the [[Ansar (Islam)|Partisans]]") is a [[Sunni]] [[Islamist]] fundamentalist group established in the early 1990s, with a primary base of operations in the [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] camp of [[Ain al-Hilweh]] [[refugee camp]] near [[Sidon]],<ref name = "FEC"/> which claims professing the [[Salafi movement|Salafi]] form of [[Islam]] and the overthrow of the Lebanese-dominated secular government.<ref name="FEC">[http://www.aph.gov.au/House/committee/pjcaad/terrorist_listingsb/subs/sub5.pdf#search=%22Osbat%20al-Ansar%22 Federal Executive Council on 7 April 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605015517/http://www.aph.gov.au/House/committee/pjcaad/terrorist_listingsb/subs/sub5.pdf |date=5 June 2011 }}</ref><ref name ="jamestown">{{cite web|url=http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=400&issue_id=3131&article_id=2368804|title=Programs - The Jamestown Foundation|access-date=11 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012192656/http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=400&issue_id=3131&article_id=2368804|archive-date=12 October 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

It has been designated as a [[List of designated terrorist groups|terrorist group]]<!-- see link for inclusion of national bodies --> by the Bahrain,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mofa.gov.bh/Default.aspx?tabid=12342&language=en-US|title=Bahrain Terrorist List (Individuals – entities)}}</ref> United Nations,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1267/aq_sanctions_list/summaries/entity/asbat-al-ansar|title=Asbat Al-Ansar|publisher=United Nations Security Council|access-date=18 May 2024}}</ref> Canada,<ref name="canada-list">{{cite web|url=https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-en.aspx|title=Currently listed entities|work=Public Safety Canada|date=21 December 2018 |publisher=Government of Canada|access-date=13 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728171301/https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-en.aspx|archive-date=28 July 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> Kazakhstan,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://egov.kz/cms/en/articles/religion/zaprewennye_ordanizacii|title = The list of prohibited foreign organizations in Kazakhstan &#124; Electronic government of the Republic of Kazakhstan}}</ref> Russia,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fsb.ru/fsb/npd/terror.htm|script-title=ru:Единый федеральный список организаций, в том числе иностранных и международных организаций, признанных в соответствии с законодательством Российской Федерации террористическими|language=ru|date=2 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514033426/http://www.fsb.ru/fsb/npd/terror.htm|archive-date=14 May 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> the UAE,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/government/uae-publishes-list-of-terrorist-organisations-1.1412895|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141117190405/http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/government/uae-publishes-list-of-terrorist-organisations-1.1412895|archive-date = 2014-11-17|title = UAE publishes list of terrorist organisations| date=15 November 2014 }}</ref> the United Kingdom<ref>{{cite act |title=[[Terrorism Act 2000]] |number=11 |year=2000 |article=2 |articletype=Schedule |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/2}}</ref> and the United States.  It is on the [[United States]]' list of [[terrorist organizations]] for alleged connections with [[Osama bin Laden]]'s [[al-Qaeda]], and the American administration decided to freeze all assets of Osbat al-Ansar following the attacks on [[September 11th, 2001]].<ref name ="jamestown"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://israpundit.blogspot.com/2003/05/clashes-in-lebanon-camp-at-least-five.html|title=IsraPundit|access-date=11 May 2016}}</ref>  The group has reportedly received funding from [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]].<ref name = "FEC"/>

Osbat al-Ansar is also connected with fundamentalist groups [[Osbat al-Nour]], [[Jund Ash Sham]], the [[Dinniyeh Group]] and [[Takfir wal Hijra]].<ref name = "FEC"/>  [[Ahmed Abd al-Karim al-Saadi]] is the ostensible leader of the group; however, since he went into hiding in 1999, the group has been led by his brother Abu Tarek al-Saadi.<ref name = "FEC"/>  Osbat al-Ansar is estimated to have less than 2000 members, mostly Lebanese, with a primary base of operations in the Ain al-Hilwah [[refugee camp]] near [[Sidon]] in southern Lebanon.<ref name="DoS-2014-Asbat al-Ansar">{{cite web|title=Country Reports on Terrorism 2013 - Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Asbat al-Ansar|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/5362299414.html|publisher=[[United States Department of State]]|access-date=25 September 2014|date=30 April 2014}}</ref>

==Ideology==

According to the [[Australian Government]] and the [[Canadian Government]] the goal of Osbat al-Ansar is "the establishment of a radical Islamic state in Lebanon." as well as "Overthrowing the Lebanese government and preventing what they perceive as anti-Sunni Islamic influences in Lebanon".<ref>[http://www.familyrelationships.gov.au/agd/WWW/MinisterRuddockHome.nsf/Page/Media_Releases_2005_Second_Quarter_7_April_2005_-_Government_relists_six_terrorist_organisations_-_0572005 7 April 2005 - Government relists six terrorist organisations - 057/2005<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp#aaa10 Currently listed entities<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061119150657/http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp |date=2006-11-19 }}</ref>

The group professes the [[Salafi movement|Salafi]] form of [[Islam]].<ref name = "FEC"/><ref name ="jamestown"/>

==Support==
According to [[Seymour Hersh]], Osbat el-Ansar has received arms and supplies from Lebanese internal-security forces and militias associated with the [[Fouad Siniora|Siniora]] government.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/03/05/the-redirection|title=The Redirection|author=Seymour M. Hersh|date=5 March 2007|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=11 May 2016}}</ref>

==Activities==
Asbat al-Ansar first emerged in the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s, the group assassinated Lebanese religious leaders and bombed nightclubs, theaters, and liquor stores. One of those assassinated was Nizar al-Halabi - leader of the Sufi [[Al-Ahbash]] - on 31 August 1995.<ref>[[Middle East International]] No 508, 8 September 1995, Publishers [[Christopher Mayhew|Lord Mayhew]], [[Dennis Walters|Dennis Walters MP]]; G.H.Jansen pp.13-14</ref> The group has also plotted against foreign diplomatic targets. In October 2004, Mahir al-Sa’di, a member of Asbat al-Ansar, was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for his 2000 plot to assassinate then-U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon [[David M. Satterfield|David Satterfield]]. Asbat al-Ansar has no formal ties to the AQ network, but the group shares AQ's ideology and has publicly proclaimed its support for al-Qa’ida in Iraq. Members of the group have traveled to Iraq since 2005 to fight Coalition Forces. Asbat al-Ansar has been reluctant to involve itself in operations in Lebanon due in part to concerns over losing its safe haven in the Ain al-Hilwah refugee camp. AAA did not stage any known attacks in 2012.<ref>[https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2012/209989.htm Foreign Terrorist Organizations, Chapter 6]; 2012, U.S. State Department, Country Reports on Terrorism</ref>

==Other actions by Osbat al-Ansar==

In 2002, a representative of Osbat al-Ansar handed over [[Badieh Hamadeh]], a [[Shiite]] living in Ain al-Hilweh suspected of killing three Lebanese soldiers, to Lebanese authorities.  A spokesman for Osbat al-Ansar stated that the decision to make the hand over was to "spare the camp any bloodshed".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2131035.stm|title=BBC NEWS - Middle East - Handover ends Lebanon stand-off|date=16 July 2002|access-date=11 May 2016}}</ref>

==Prevented attacks==

In 2001, [[Daniel Ahmad Samarji]], and [[Bilal Ali Othman]], were arrested in the northern city of [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]] for planning terrorist acts, illegal dealing in weapons of war and discharging firearms.<ref>[http://www.jordanembassyus.org/10172001002.htm 'Jordan has been at war against Ben Laden for decade'<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=pjcis/six%20terrorist/report/appendix%20c.htm Appendix C – Statement of Reasons – Asbat al-Ansar (AAA)] [[Parliament of Australia]]

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Bahrain]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Russia]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by the United Arab Emirates]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist]]
[[Category:Salafi Islamist groups]]
[[Category:Paramilitary organisations based in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Al-Qaeda allied groups]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Canada]]