Youths watch a Jordanian military plane, carrying U.S. ammunition for Lebanon, arrive in Beirut international airport, May 25, 2007. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
Posted on 05/25/2007 10:18:01 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (AFP) - The Lebanese army warned on Friday that it would respond forcefully if it came under renewed Islamist attack as sniper fire hit the refugee camp that has been the main battleground.
But after overnight clashes, a fragile undeclared truce largely held, even as the Lebanese government took delivery of US military assistance to bolster its fight against the Palestinian militants of Fatah al-Islam.
"The situation is calm today. The army is respecting the truce, but will respond forcefully and decisively if attacked," an army officer, who asked not to be identified, told AFP.
"Last night, they tried to attack an army position, but the army responded and they suffered losses," he added.
Fatah al-Islam said it had no intention of surrendering but would continue to observe the ceasefire it unilaterally declared on Tuesday.
Witnesses told AFP that sniper fire during the day on Friday brought a halt to an exodus of civilians from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, outside the northern city of Tripoli, that has seen thousands fleeing Lebanon's deadliest internal strife since the 1975-90 civil war.
"They are too scared from the fire to dare to go out," said displaced refugee Hassan Sayed, who was waiting anxiously outside the camp to see if the rest of his family could make it out.
The Lebanese army insisted that it was placing no obstacle in the way of civilians escaping fighting that has left 78 people dead and the impoverished camp of more than 30,000 people severely damaged.
"Anyone coming out on foot can exit without problems," said an officer outside the camp, which has already been drained of more than half of its population. "Only entry to the camp is prohibited."
US air force planes began delivering military equipment to the Lebanese army as Washington expedited existing orders from the beleaguered Beirut government to assist its campaign against the Islamists.
"Eight US air force cargo planes have started arriving in Lebanon to deliver military equipment and ammunition to the Lebanese army," a Western diplomat in Beirut told AFP.
"This shipment has previously been ordered by the Lebanese army but it has now been accelerated."
The An-Nahar newspaper said a first US plane arrived from Kuwait late on Thursday, with two more expected from Egypt on Friday.
"Right now, we are considering a request for additional assistance coming from the Lebanese government." State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington.
A Pentagon spokesman said the US government has approved a 30.4 million dollar package of ammunition, trucks and spare parts for helicopters and wheeled vehicles for Lebanon but that it has yet to receive congressional approval.
Former colonial power France too is sending military assistance to the Lebanese government, visiting Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.
He said that any move by the Lebanese army to crush the Fatah al-Islam fighters would be "fair."
But relief officials expressed concern for the estimated 20,000 civilians who remain in the Nahr al-Bared camp where intense shelling by the Lebanese army earlier this week has left houses scarred with shrapnel and reduced cars to burnt out hulks.
"We are extremely concerned about the security of some 20,000 civilians who remain inside the camp," said Jakob Kellenberger of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Aid agencies and volunteers are battling to help the displaced who have taken shelter in Tripoli or poured into Beddawi, another already crowded refugee camp nearby.
On Friday morning, 11 trucks travelling from Jordan and carrying 220 tonnes of food aid arrived at Masna, on the border with Syria.
Supporters of Lebanon's Western-backed government have blamed neighbouring Syria for the violence in which 33 soldiers, 19 Palestinian refugees and one Lebanese civilian have died, as well as 25 militants.
But the secular regime in Syria denies any links with Fatah al-Islam, which also insists it receives no foreign backing.
Youths watch a Jordanian military plane, carrying U.S. ammunition for Lebanon, arrive in Beirut international airport, May 25, 2007. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
Lebanese army tanks are stationed around the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon May 25, 2007. The United States sent military aid to Lebanon on Friday and the Lebanese army deployed extra troops to a Palestinian camp where it has been battling Islamist militants this week. REUTERS/ Jamal Saidi (LEBANON)
Palestinian refugees protect their heads from the sun while attending Friday prayers on an open field in the refugee camp of Baddawi in the north city of Tripoli, Lebanon Friday, May 25, 2007. Military aid from the United States and Arab allies began arriving Friday after Washington said it was rushing supplies to the Lebanese army battling al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants barricaded inside the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the country's north. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
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