"One can accuse Fatah al-Islam of having created the space into which extremists can infiltrate Lebanon. But it is wrong to say that this group is linked to al-Qaeda," Omar Bakri Mohammad ( R) said in an interview published by Rome-based daily La Repubblica on Tuesday.

"Fatah al-Islam is a creature of Syria. The violence in Lebanon depends on Syria and not al-Qaeda," added Bakri who in the past has praised Osama bin-Laden and the 11 September 2001 attacks against the United States.

Bakri said he "did not know" whether Damascus was behind an attack that killed six Spanish soldiers serving with the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

But he added, that "the hidden hands behind the massacre of Marjayoun (where the Spaniards were killed) are the same as those that have planted the bombs in Lebanon".

Pressed by the La Republica interviewer into admitting that several clandestine arms caches belonging to Lebanese Sunni extremists have been found in recent months, Bakri replied: "Extremism is increasing because the Sunnis are being threatened by the Shiites of Amal and Hezbollah. As soon as a Sunni arms himself everyone invokes al-Qaeda, but when Shiites do the same thing, no one says anything. They have created a state within a state in the south, and they have been occupying the centre of Beirut for months."

"Is this not extremism?" Bakri asked.

Omar Bakri Mohammad born Omar Bakri Fostock in 1958 in Syria, led Al-Muhajiroun, an Islamist organization based in the United Kingdom, until its disbandment in 2004, and is allegedly a spiritual leader for Al Qaeda.

In 2005, after sheltering in the UK for 20 years, he traveled voluntarily to Lebanon, and while he was away the Home Office informed him that he would not be allowed back. In 2006, during the Israel-Hezbollah war, he asked to be evacuated back to Britain, along with the tourists, on "humanitarian grounds". He was refused. He has since been living in the northern Lebanese town of Tripoli where he runs a library and an Islamic cultural center.

Sources: AKI