48 die as Lebanese army battles militants

LEBANON:The fiercest domestic clashes in Lebanon for 16 years erupted yesterday between the Lebanese army and a Palestinian faction at a refugee camp on the outskirts of the northern port city of Tripoli.

At least 48 people died, including 23 Lebanese soldiers and 19 fighters belonging to the small Fatah al-Islam organisation. More than 60 wounded were admitted to hospital and dozens of injured Palestinians remained trapped in the UN-run Nahr al-Bared camp without medical treatment while Lebanese tanks shelled the camp.

Infantry took up positions on the perimeter in preparation to storm the camp which houses 40,000 Palestinian refugees. But the government hesitated to invade because Palestinians in Lebanon's other 11 refugee camps could rise in violent protest. The Lebanese army is bound by a 38-year-old agreement barring entry to the camps.

Gunfights began in Tripoli after security services attempted to raid homes of Fatah al-Islam members alleged to be involved in a bank robbery on Saturday. Fatah al-Islam retaliated by seizing a Lebanese army post at the entrance of the camp, killing four soldiers. Intense street battles broke out in several districts of Lebanon's second city.

Fatah al-Islam warned the Lebanese army an all-out offensive would "open the gates of fire . . . against [ the army] and the whole of Lebanon". Lebanese prime minister Fuad Siniora called on all Lebanese to "join ranks behind the army and Lebanese security services". He said "the blows dealt by Fatah al-Islam against the Lebanese army are a premeditated crime and a dangerous attempt to destabilise" the country.

Cabinet minister Ahmad Fatfat accused Fatah al-Islam of trying to undermine UN efforts to establish an international tribunal to try Lebanese and Syrian intelligence operatives accused in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri. Mr Fatfat said the group is trying to show that the tribunal could be a destabilising factor. Syria and its influential Lebanese ally, Hizbullah, oppose UN intervention because, they argue, the tribunal could be used to harm them rather than prosecute the murderers of Mr Hariri.

Fatah al-Islam, with around 200 fighters, is an offshoot of Fatah Uprising which broke away from Yasser Arafat's mainstream Fatah movement in 1982 and helped Lebanese and Syrian forces to drive his fighters from Lebanon in 1983.

The government says Fatah al-Islam is an extension of Syrian intelligence but the group rejects this charge and argues its mission is to initiate religious reform among Palestinians before taking on Israel.

It has ties to Sunni fundamentalists in northern Lebanon and is said to have al-Qaeda connections since Fatah al-Islam's communiques appeared on websites carrying al-Qaeda statements.

In February the Siniora government accused Fatah al-Islam of involvement in a bus bombing which killed three civilians in a Christian area. Since then the Lebanese army has tightened security around Nahr al-Bared and the vast Ain al-Hilweh camp in southern Lebanon. Damascus, which denies involvement with Fatah al-Islam, closed northern border crossings to prevent militants from fleeing to Syria.