Lebanon army pounds militants, 3 more soldiers die

Nahr al-Bared – Lebanese troops shelled al
Qaeda-inspired militants entrenched in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian
refugee camp on Saturday and three soldiers died in the heavy battles,
security sources said.

They said 21 soldiers were also wounded in Saturday’s battles in
which machine-gun fire reverberated and heavy artillery shelling rocked
the camp’s edges from early morning.

Television footage showed heavy black smoke billowing from many of the camp’s buildings, some punctured by shells.

“The army is trying to control positions that the militants are using to target the army,” a military source said.

“The militants sometimes intensify their efforts (and launch
stronger attacks), and sometimes resort to sniper attacks from these
positions.”

At least 118 people, including 50 soldiers and 38 militants, have
been killed since the fighting began on May 20 — almost three weeks
ago — making it Lebanon’s worst internal violence since the 1975-1990
civil war.

On a per capita basis Lebanon lost more soldiers in 3 weeks of fighting than the US lost in Iraq in 4 years of war .

Only a few thousand of the 31,000 residents now remain in the
coastal camp short of food, water and electricity. The main road
linking Tripoli to the Syrian border was closed for the first time in
about a week.

“There is no movement between the camp’s neighborhoods because some
shells are falling in civilian areas. The basic necessities of life
aren’t available,” a resident of the camp, said by telephone.

“ONLY WAY OUT”

The latest mediation efforts by Lebanese Islamists to try to convince the militants to surrender have had no success.

But Lebanese sources said the Islamic Action Front, which includes
Sunni politicians and clerics, and a grouping of Palestinian clerics,
would continue efforts to find a solution.

“These people are insisting they don’t surrender … It is the only way out,” the Front’s leader Fathi Yakan told Reuters.

“We are trying in every way to convince them, even using Islamic
intellectual arguments and sharia (Islamic law) that this is not the
right way,” said Yakan, who added a proposed first step was the
surrender of the group’s Lebanese members.

On a mission into the camp on Friday afternoon, they were only able to see Fatah al-Islam spokesman Shahine Shahine, Yakan said.

“Something is going on within Fatah al-Islam ranks,” the cleric
said. “Their leaders are no longer visible. We were only able to meet a
junior official while their top leaders like Shaker Absi have gone to
ground and aren’t talking.”

There were confirmed reports yesterday that Shaker Absi and his
deputy Abu Hureira were both wounded and hiding underground in the
besieged camp

The militants, many of whom are foreign fighters from other Arab countries, have vowed to fight to the death.

The fighting began on May 20 when the militants attacked army units
deployed around Nahr al-Bared after one of their hideouts in a nearby
city was stormed.

Lebanon is already struggling with a 7-month-old political crisis, and there are fears that fighting could spread.

Deadly clashes have erupted at Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee
camp in the past week, and five bombs have rocked civilian areas in and
near Beirut since May 20.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the army was holding back to preserve civilian lives.

“That’s why this battle is taking longer; and it’s worth pointing
out that these terrorists are well-equipped and well-trained and
persistent,” he told French television station TV5 on Friday.

The Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations were able to
evacuate yesterday about 200 more civilians and efforts continue to
evacuate more , against the will of Fatah Al-Islam militants who are
trying to use the civilians as human shields, according to eyewitnesses.

Fatah al-Islam was officially formed late last year. Its leader,
veteran Palestinian guerrilla Shaker al-Abssi, says he shares the same
ideology as al Qaeda but has no organizational links with Osama bin
Laden’s network.

Authorities have charged 32 detained members of Fatah al-Islam with terrorism, charges that carry the death penalty

Siniora points finger at Syria

Lebanon’s parliament -backed prime minister, a staunch opponent of
Syria, accused intelligence agents of the country’s former powerbroker
of being connected to the internal unrest … by far the deadliest since
the 1975-90 civil war.

“Undoubtedly … there is a link between them and some of the Syrian intelligence services,” Siniora told reporters

He said foreign fighters among the militants had entered Lebanon
from Syria and appealed to the Damascus authorities to exercise greater
control over the border.

“They passed through Syria, and the responsibility is joint. I do
not deny Lebanon’s responsibility, but nobody can deny Syria’s
responsibility either,” he said.

“We call on the Syrians to take up the responsibility of controlling
the border and prevent the infiltration of individuals and arms
smuggling into Lebanon.”

Many leaders from the parliament majority have urged Siniora to
officially file with the Arab league a complaint against Syria for its
role in destabilizing Lebanon.

Top picture: Smoke rises from the heavy shelling during the Lebanese
army operation at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared near
the north city of Tripoli,

Paramedic Nadine Njeim (2nd R), 19, loads water for delivery into an
ambulance with members of the Lebanese Red Cross at the Palestinian
Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, June 8, 2007. Njeim,
the 2007 Miss Lebanon, will participate in the Miss World pageant in
China later this year.

Sources: Reuters, Ya Libnan