Lebanese army lays siege to refugee camp

Lebanese security officials accuse Syria of backing Fatah Islam as a tool to disrupt the country. “They are not al-Qaida. This is imitation al-Qaida, a ’Made in Syria’ one,” a national police commander, Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, said, referring to Fatah Islam.

Syria — which hosts a number of Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas — controlled Lebanon until 2005, when its troops were forced to withdraw from the country following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. But Syria’s opponents in Lebanon accuse it of seeking to re-establish its control through its allies, including Hezbollah.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem insisted Damascus had nothing to do with the Fatah Islam and has been seeking Interpol’s help in arresting its members.

“Fatah Islam is rejected and does not serve the Palestinian cause. On the contrary, it harms it in every way,” he said in Damascus. Syria closed a border crossing near Tripoli, though other crossings into Lebanon remained open.

A spokesman for Fatah Islam, Abu Salim, warned that if the army siege did not stop, the militants would step up attacks by rockets and artillery “and would take the battle outside Tripoli.”

“It is a life-or-death battle. Their aim is to wipe out Fatah Islam. We will respond and we know how to respond,” he told The Associated Press from the camp.

Other Palestinian factions, including Hamas, have distanced themselves from Fatah Islam, though Hamas was trying to broker a truce.

The assault on Nahr el-Bared, if it continues, raises the prospect of unrest among the more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon — more than 215,000 of whom live in 12 impoverished refugee camps. Lebanese officials cannot enter the camps under a 1969 agreement that gave the Palestine Liberation Organization authority over them.

The battle was sparked Sunday when police raided suspected Fatah Islam hideouts in several buildings in Tripoli, searching for men wanted in a bank robbery. A gunbattle erupted and troops were called in. Then militants burst out of the nearby refugee camp, attacking army positions.

Lingering bitterness against Palestinians
Lebanese troops later laid siege to the refugee camp, unleashing fire from tanks, artillery and heavy machine guns. At least 27 soldiers and 20 militants were killed Sunday. Two more soldiers were killed Monday night when a mortar fired from inside camp struck their vehicle.

Lebanese in Tripoli cheered the Lebanese troops Sunday, a reflection of the anger over militants in the camp — and of lingering bitterness toward Palestinians, whom some blame for sparking the civil war.

But on Monday, the tone was more subdued. Many of the streets in Tripoli near the camp were empty, with shops closed and residents remaining inside to avoid getting hit by fire from the camp.

A Palestinian medical official said two mosques where civilians had taken refuge were hit by shelling Monday and there were casualties. One report from inside the camp said 14 civilians were killed Sunday, though another put the toll at five. None of the reports could be independently confirmed.

A Lebanese officer at the front line said the bombardment was targeting only buildings known to house militants or sites from which militants fired.

But Lebanese sympathetic to the Palestinians expressed fears over the battle’s fallout. Bilal Shaaban, leader of an Islamic fundamentalist group in Tripoli, said people in the camp “are not getting food or water. The wounded are left on the streets.”

“Lebanon is facing total collapse,” Shaaban said. “Everything is going to collapse on everyone’s heads.”

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