The first round of DNA tests conducted on Fatah al-Islam's chief Shaker Abssi did not match him, media reports said on Thursday. A report on OTV surprised the Palestinian Scholars Association (PSA).
Sheikh Ali Youssef, a PSA member, on Thursday said the Association did not yet receive any official DNA outcome. "I was shocked at the news that preceded the final results," Youssef told LBC.
Abssi's wife on Monday identified his corpse at the public hospital in the northern town of Tripoli.
However, the Beirut-based An Nahar newspaper on Thursday, citing judicial sources, said state Prosecutor Saeed Mirza has not yet received the final DNA results that would determine the fatality's identity. The sources said further forensic DNA testing would be conducted before a definite answer is given.
The newspaper added Thursday that the death of Fatah al-Islam's spokesman Abu Salim Taha has not been confirmed.
Earlier this wee, the Lebanese Army said Abssi was killed along with 31 fellow members in a major showdown that ended the Nahr al-Bared battle which broke out on May 20.
