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Lebanese army shells camp for 5th day (Seven al-Qaida-inspired guerrillas surrender)
AP on Yahoo ^ | 6/5/07 | Bassem Mroue - ap

Posted on 06/05/2007 12:19:57 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Seven al-Qaida-inspired guerrillas surrendered Tuesday to a secular Palestinian faction at a besieged refugee camp in northern Lebanon, offering the first tangible sign that moderate Palestinians might be moving against the militants.

But others in the extremist group Fatah Islam continued to fight, and Lebanese government troops battered their hideouts in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp for a fifth straight day. Clouds of smoke billowed over the camp as artillery shells exploded on militant positions.

Calm held at Lebanon's biggest Palestinian refugee camp, Ein el-Hilweh in the south, where Islamic extremists sympathetic to Fatah Islam clashed with Lebanese soldiers Sunday night and Monday morning. The camp's 65,000 residents remained on edge, fearing combat could erupt again.

Many people worry the fighting could spread to more of Lebanon's 12 camps for Palestinians, which are riven with the factional rivalries that have brought violence to the Gaza Strip.

The surrender by seven militants at Nahr el-Bared was the first time a major Palestinian group — in this case the Fatah movement led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas — responded to calls by Lebanese authorities to campaign against Fatah Islam since fighting broke out May 20.

It coincided with Abbas' renewed denunciation of the group, whose few hundred members embrace al-Qaida-style militancy and doctrine and are suspected of having links to Osama bin Laden's network.

Fatah Islam has nothing to do with the Palestinians, Abbas said in a speech in the West Bank marking 40 years of Israeli occupation. He accused the militants of "abusing the camps" to carry out attacks on the Lebanese army and "endangering the lives of Palestinians."

The seven Fatah Islam members came over to Fatah positions in the southern parts of Nahr el-Bared, handed over their weapons and pledged to stay out of the fight, said a Fatah commander, Maj. Gen. Khaled Aref.

Speaking from his base at the Ein el-Hilweh camp in the southern city of Tyre, Aref told The Associated Press that Fatah was trying to persuade Palestinians at Nahr el-Bared who sided with the militants to abandon the fight because the battle is wrecking their homes.

Major Palestinian factions have been trying to mediate an end to the battle. The government wants the militants to surrender, but Fatah Islam leaders have vowed to fight to death.

Despite their tacit backing for the army's offensive at Nahr el-Bared, mainstream Palestinian groups are wary of military involvement because of their own rivalries and the fear that direct intervention could spread the violence to other Palestinian camps.

Lebanese security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make statements to media, said Nahr el-Bared had been divided into three zones — one under army control, another held by Fatah Islam and a third controlled by Palestinian civilians and guerrillas of Fatah and other factions who refused to give militants sanctuary.

A senior Lebanese military official said the army was tightening the noose around the militants, silencing gun positions and cleaning bomb-rigged buildings. The officer, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was not aware of any Fatah Islam militants surrendering to Lebanese troops.

More than 100 people have been reported killed in the fighting, the worst internal violence since the end of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

Among the dead were 45 soldiers, including 10 killed since the military launched its offensive Friday at Nahr el-Bared and two who died in the clashes at Ein el-Hilweh. About 60 Fatah Islam militants were believed killed.

At least 20 civilians have been reported dead at Nahr el-Bared, but any recent civilian casualties were unknown. Most of the camp's 31,000 residents have fled, but about 5,000 remained.

The International Red Cross said Tuesday it managed to send in some medical supplies to the southern part of Nahr el-Bared for the first time since the offensive began.

The Red Cross evacuated 12 people, including one who was wounded and a pregnant woman, said spokeswoman Virginia de la Guardia. That followed the evacuation of 33 people Monday.

The London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International said it was "greatly concerned" about civilians trapped in Nahr el-Bared who are being exposed to "grave risk."

A visiting U.S. official reiterated Washington's support for Lebanon. Kristen Silverberg, assistant secretary of state for international organizations, said after meeting with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora that the Lebanese "can be proud of the courage and determination" of the army.

The U.S. has flown in ammunition and other supplies for the Lebanese army in its showdown with Fatah Islam. And U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman announced Tuesday that the U.S would contribute $3.5 million to help Nahr el-Bared's residents.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alqaida; camp; fatahislam; lebanesearmy; lebanon; shells; tripoli

Palestinian gunmen of Ansar Allah, Arabic for Partisans of God, stand alert as they prepare to deploy in the refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in the southern city of Sidon, Lebanon on Tuesday, June 5, 2007. Members of the Islamic group are part of a security force of Palestinian Islamic factions that was set up to prevent further Jund al-Sham frictions with the army after Monday's clashes. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)


1 posted on 06/05/2007 12:20:04 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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Meanwhile, Has it really been 40 years.. wow.

An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man is back dropped by the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, Tuesday, June 5, 2007. Palestinians and Israelis marked the 40th anniversary of the start of the Six Day War Tuesday. In the 1967 fighting, Israel seized the West Bank and part of Jerusalem from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, putting it in control of land that some Israelis see as God-given and others see as a burden. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

2 posted on 06/05/2007 12:21:12 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... For want of a few good men, a once great nation was lost.)
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To: NormsRevenge

I haven’t been paying attention. Is what is going on in Lebanon Bush’s fault, or is it Israel’s fault?


3 posted on 06/05/2007 12:25:05 PM PDT by stop_fascism
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The Al-Qaida ordnance and air quality forecast for today at Nahr al-Bared .. Cloudy and real smoky with loud explosions, occasional artillery salvos, clearing in the evening

.

Smoke rises from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon June 5, 2007. Fighting eased on Tuesday between the Lebanese army and Islamist militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, battleground for the country's worst internal violence since the civil war. REUTERS/Jerry Lampen (LEBANON)

4 posted on 06/05/2007 12:25:45 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... For want of a few good men, a once great nation was lost.)
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To: stop_fascism

It’s a Middle East thing. Bush and the US are late arrivals to the dance.


5 posted on 06/05/2007 12:47:13 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... For want of a few good men, a once great nation was lost.)
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To: NormsRevenge
If they are “Al-Qaeda Inspired” then they are Al-Qaeda just under different management.
6 posted on 06/05/2007 1:46:37 PM PDT by tobyhill (only wimps believe in retreat in defeat)
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To: tobyhill

When did the “al-Qaida” spelling get popular? Seems as if a lot of article have dropped “al-Qaeda.”


7 posted on 06/05/2007 2:10:30 PM PDT by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
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To: Right Wing Assault

They’re cousins.


8 posted on 06/05/2007 2:12:50 PM PDT by tobyhill (only wimps believe in retreat in defeat)
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