..on January 15, 2005, an unusual al Qaeda communiqué appeared on various jihadist websites asserting that an exhaustive probe conducted into the murder of "our brother Muhammed Al Masri" had elicited ironclad proof of an assassination conspiracy by Lebanese domestic security service and the Fatah's Ein el-Hilweh command. The former was said to have provided the bomb vehicle, while Fatah smuggled it into the camp and parked it along al Masri's route from mosque to store, detonating it by remote control.

Having assigned guilt, the al Qaeda statement added, "We warn Fatah-Lebanon that we intend very soon to avenge the blood of our brother Al Masri. This warning is addressed to the entire Fatah command and leadership hierarchy in Lebanon - from the highest to the lowest commander.