With their thick beards and guarded manner, the jihadis of Fatah al-Islam exuded an air of mystery when they arrived late last year at the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon. The fact that they came from a number of different Arab countries compounded the sense of unease among Palestinian refugees living at the camp.

At first the militants appeared keen to build bridges with locals, providing money for medical operations, fixing generators, and attending weddings and funerals. But a darker side soon emerged. “They planted a state of fear in the camp and people would avoid them,” recalls Ali Hajj, one of Nahr el-Bared’s residents. “Twice there were problems with them and they would open grenades and say: ‘I’m in a hurry to meet the creator’.”