Free Republic

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-inspired militants in north Lebanon threatened on Wednesday to take their fight to other parts of the country and beyond if the Lebanese army did not stop attacking a Palestinian refugee camp. "If the army continues to bomb civilians and pursue its inhumane practices ... we will move within the next two days to the second phase of the battle," Fatah al-Islam military commander Shahin Shahin told Reuters by telephone from the camp. "We will show them the capabilities of Fatah al-Islam, starting with Lebanon and then moving to the whole of Greater Syria,"...

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...

EIN EL-HILWEH CAMP, Lebanon - Islamic militants clashed with Lebanese troops at the country's biggest Palestinian refugee camp Monday, threatening to open a southern battle front that could complicate the army's effort to defeat al-Qaida-inspired extremists in the north. Two government soldiers and a militant were reported killed in fighting at the Ein el-Hilweh camp in the southern city of Sidon, which began when the Jund al-Sham group attacked army outposts late Sunday. The assault was seen as an attempt by Jund al-Sham to ease military pressure on an allied Islamic group, Fatah Islam, whose guerrillas have been battered by...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - A missile-firing helicopter joined the Lebanese army offensive against al-Qaida-inspired militants on Saturday, the second day of a push against Islamic fighters vowing a fight to the death inside a Palestinian refugee camp. Army tanks shelled militant hideouts in the Nahr el-Bared camp by this northern port city, blasting upper floors of buildings where the militants placed snipers. A Lebanese air force helicopter fired two missiles and strafed militant positions in the first use of airpower since fighting began with the Fatah Islam group on May 20. The air attack was an apparent attempt to block an...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Under the cover of artillery, the Lebanese army on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded inside a Palestinian refugee camp, claiming tanks and armored carriers had "tightened the ring" around the group and urging surrender. Artillery barrages began in the morning, targeting the Nahr el-Bared camp where Fatah Islam militants have holed up for 13 days among narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings. The army later called on the militants to surrender and urged Palestinians not to provide them a safe haven. The statement said the army had "tightened the ring" around the group in fighting Friday;...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Heavy fighting resumed Friday between the Lebanese army and Islamic militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Tanks could be seen moving down the streets outside the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp as heavy shelling could be heard in the background, according to an AP Television News crew at the scene. Plumes of smoke rose out of the camp where Fatah Islam militants have been holed up in a 13-day siege by the Lebanese army. This is a breaking news update. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) —...

How many "human-rights activists" does it take to betray civilization? After the Fatah al-Islam terrorists holed up in a Palestinian camp carried out a wave of bombings, bank robberies and assassinations, Lebanon's struggling democratic government ordered its army to stop them. The Palestinian refugees themselves applauded the army's efforts, stating that few of the terrorists were local and most were fanatics from other Muslim states. The terrorists ruled with the gun and sought to enforce Sharia law. Their victims want them gone. The response from Human Rights Watch? Ignore the crimes of the terrorists and criticize the Lebanese army for...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Palestinian leaders tried on Monday to negotiate an end to a bloody standoff between the Lebanese army and Islamist militants who have been holed up in a refugee camp for more than a week. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said his country would not waver over its demand that the militants surrender and face justice. But the Fatah al-Islam group said it would not hand over its fighters. Worried violence could spill over to other Palestinian camps, the government is giving Palestinian factions time to try and strike a deal with Fatah al-Islam, which has been battling...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A senior member of Lebanon's governing coalition said on Sunday military action was not on the table for ending a standoff between the Lebanese army and militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt demanded the handing over of the Fatah al-Islam Islamist militants, who have been battling the army at the Nahr al-Bared camp for a week in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. "Nobody has proposed a military settlement. But we want the murderers handed over to Lebanese justice," Jumblatt said. The army is not allowed into Lebanon's...

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (AFP) - Fears for thousands of civilians caught in the Lebanese army's siege of Islamist militants grew Sunday as those brave enough to escape told harrowing tales of survival. The United Nations made an urgent appeal for the safety of children among an estimated 10,000 mainly Palestinian civilians caught in the crossfire at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, where the Islamist gunmen are holed up. Lebanese troops encircled the camp a week ago, when fighting broke out with Fatah al-Islam militants that has killed 78 people, forced thousands to flee and trapped thousands more in unbearable conditions....

A purported leader of the militant Fatah al-Islam group, which has been battling the Lebanese army in a Palestinian refugee camp, vowed on Saturday to fight "the Americans and the Jews". Al Jazeera television, which broadcast the videotaped message, identified the man as Shaker al-Abssi and said it was the Palestinian's first public appearance. "We say to you, the guardians of the American project, the Sunni people will be leaders in fighting the Jews, the Americans and their loyalists," Abssi said, referring to Lebanese leaders.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Three U.S. transport planes carrying military aid to Lebanon's army arrived in Beirut Saturday, part of an international airlift to support troops fighting Islamic militants in a Palestinian refugee camp. At the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp on the outskirts of the northern city of Tripoli, a four-day-old truce mostly held up despite sporadic gunfire. A few dozen more Palestinians left the camp. Four ambulances entered the camp bearing medicine on Saturday, and trucks from the international Red Cross brought water, bread and candles. Souad Ali, 70, one of the people who left, said she had cancer and...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Sporadic gunfire erupted Thursday inside the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp where Islamic militants are holed up after refusing an ultimatum by Lebanon's defense minister to surrender or face a military onslaught. Lebanon's leader vowed to uproot the fighters. Insurgents from the al-Qaida-inspired Fatah Islam militant group barricaded in the Palestinian refugee camp vowed not to give up and to fight any Lebanese assault. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, in an address to the nation, said that his government would stamp out Fatah Islam. "We will work to root out and strike at terrorism, but we will embrace...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese leaders vowed on Thursday to stamp out an Islamist militant group that has been fighting the army at a camp in the north of the country. Relief workers planned aid deliveries to thousands of Palestinians forced from a refugee camp by fighting between the army and militant group Fatah al-Islam as a fragile truce held. "We will not surrender to terrorism," Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said in a televised speech to his nation, referring to Fatah al-Islam and three bomb attacks in Lebanon this week. "We will work on uprooting terrorism and finishing it off." Dozens...

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Prime Minister Fuad Saniora vowed in an address to the nation on Thursday his government would uproot Islamic militants battling the army in a Palestinian refugee camp. “We will work to root out and strike at terrorism, but we will embrace and protect our brothers in the camps,” Saniora said in a televised speech, insisting Lebanon has no quarrel with the 400,000 Palestinian refugees who live in the country. His address came a day after the Lebanese defense minister issued an ultimatum to the Fatah Islam militants barricaded in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, many of...

NAHR EL-BARED REFUGEE CAMP, Lebanon - Lebanon's defense minister issued an ultimatum Wednesday to Islamic militants barricaded in this Palestinian refugee camp to surrender or face a military onslaught. Fighters from the al-Qaida-inspired Fatah Islam militant group vowed not to give up and to fight any Lebanese assault. Storming the Nahr el-Bared camp — a densely built-up town of narrow streets on the Mediterranean coast — could mean rough urban fighting for Lebanese troops and further death and destruction for the thousands of civilians who remain inside. It could also have grave repercussions elsewhere across troubled Lebanon, sparking unrest among...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - The militants began trickling into the camp about 10 months ago, distinguished by their beards, combat uniforms and the assault rifles they carried openly. They rarely smiled and spoke only to rebuke camp residents for smoking or other perceived "sins" against Islam. Residents of the Nahr el-Bared camp and surrounding areas on Tuesday described the men of the Fatah Islam militant group at the heart of the fighting as deeply religious and reclusive, rarely associating with those who lived there. Some roamed about with Kalashnikov rifles, wearing traditional Arab robes and beards without mustaches, a trademark of...

The Lebanese government has authorized the army to "finish off" Islamic militants fighting Lebanese troops for the third straight day Tuesday in a refugee camp in the country's north. The decision by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora reflected the government's determination to pursue the Islamic militants who staged attacks on Lebanese troops on Sunday and Monday, killing 29 soldiers. Some 20 militants have also been killed, as well as an undetermined number of civilians.