Lebanon's Jumblatt downplays army action at camp

Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 5/27/07 | Tom Perry

[NormsRevenge]

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 12 Palestinian refugee camps under a 1969 Arab agreement. Lebanese troops have been unable to deal the militants a decisive blow from their positions around the camp.

The fighting has forced thousands to flee Nahr al-Bared, usually home to 40,000. At least 78 people have been killed, including 33 soldiers, 27 militants and 18 civilians.

Lebanese leaders have vowed to stamp out Fatah al-Islam but given a chance to mediators to end the standoff. The group is led by a Palestinian but has little support among Palestinians in Lebanon, who number around 400,000.

The main Palestinian factions have been in extensive talks to end the fighting. Palestinian group Islamic Jihad said there was consensus that the standoff needed a political solution.

"We are convinced that the military solution cannot end this phenomenon," Islamic Jihad representative Abu Emad al-Refaie told Reuters.

Fatah al-Islam's fighters include Arabs from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Syria and Tunisia, Lebanese authorities say. Members of Lebanon's governing coalition allege the group is a tool of Syrian intelligence. Syria denies the charge.

The fighting was triggered a week ago when the army says Fatah al-Islam attacked its positions around the camp and near the northern city of Tripoli. The group says it has been acting in self defense.

CRITICISM OF NASRALLAH

Thousands of Palestinians have fled Nahr al-Bared. Most have gone to the nearby Beddawi camp, where there is serious overcrowding, said Hoda Elturk, a spokeswoman for the U.N. agency which cares for Palestinians.

"Our estimates say that 2-5,000 at most are still in Nahr al-Bared camp," she said. Sporadic gunbattles have made it very difficult for relief workers to deliver aid to the camp.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, an ally of Syria, on Friday urged patience in resolving the standoff and said storming the camp was a "red line" which would plunge Lebanon into more violence. Attacks on the army were also a "red line," he said.

Jumblatt, a fierce opponent of Syrian influence in Lebanon, slammed Nasrallah, saying the Hezbollah leader had put the militants and the army on the same level.

Jumblatt called Fatah al-Islam "a Syrian gang," but doubted claims that it had ties to al Qaeda. He linked the fighting partly to what he saw as efforts to derail U.N. moves to set up a special court for suspects in assassinations in Lebanon.

The United States, France and Britain have said they expect a Security Council resolution setting up the court to pass this week. The court is at the heart of a deep political conflict between Syria's allies and opponents in Lebanon.

[SledgeCS]

If the Army is unable to enter the camp then they just have to cut off everything to the camps. Cut of the power, water, aid, everything. Setup up loud speakers that blast out that services will be restarted once the insurgents/terrorists are driven out. The Palestinians want a country to call their own let them start showing the world that they deserve one.