Lebanese troops bombard Palestinian camp

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jun 20, 1:24 PM ET



BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese troops bombed Islamic militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp Wednesday, as mediators met senior military officials to discuss a possible cease-fire deal that would disarm the al-Qaida-inspired fighters.

The army unleashed artillery and tank barrages at suspected hideouts of Fatah Islam militants barricaded inside the Nahr el-Bared camp on the outskirts of the port city of Tripoli. Plumes of black and white smoke rose from inside the camp, and heavy gunfire rang out.

The monthlong fighting in Nahr el-Bared, the worst internal violence since the 1975-90 civil war, comes amid a fierce power struggle between Lebanon's Western-backed government and the opposition led by the militant Hezbollah group.

On Wednesday, Arab League Amr Moussa warned "time is running out" to resolve the political impasse that has paralyzed Lebanon for months.

Even as military tried to crush Fatah Islam's remaining strongholds at the refugee camp, Palestinian mediators held talks with Lebanese military intelligence chief Brig. George Khoury at the Defense Ministry near Beirut.

A Palestinian Muslim cleric, Sheik Mohammed Haj, said after meeting with Khoury that he hoped for "a positive response" to the cease-fire proposed by mediators.

Sheik Mohammed and the Palestinian Scholars Association met earlier this week with Fatah Islam leaders in the camp and said the militants had agreed to the deal.

"Brig. Khoury promised to take what has been reached (with Fatah Islam) to the army command and to respond to it," the cleric told Hezbollah's Al-Manar television.

He refused to give details of the cease-fire deal. Earlier, the private New TV station said it included disarming Fatah Islam's dissolution, the return of refugees and takeover of the camp by other Palestinian factions.

However, a senior military official said the army would not accept any deal unless it includes the handover of Fatah Islam militants responsible for the deaths of Lebanese soldiers.

There will be "no bargaining over the blood of the (army) martyrs," the official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to make official statements. He added that the troops were making "steady advances" in assault on the Fatah Islam militants.

The official said three soldiers were killed in clashes Tuesday, bringing the army's death toll to 75 since fighting began May 20 when police seeking suspects in a bank robbery clashed with Fatah Islam in a Tripoli neighborhood.

At least 60 militants and 20 civilians were killed in the early days of fighting. Officials say many more militants have died since, but contact with the fighters to verify figures has not been possible. The militants had earlier given a much lower death toll.

Moussa, the Arab League chief, was on a three-day visit to help end the standoff between the and the Western-backed government and the pro-Syria opposition.

Opposition supporters have held a sit-in outside Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's office since December, demanding his resignation and a national unity government in which they would have veto power. Saniora, backed by the United States, has refused to step down.

In another looming crisis, the legislature must vote on a replacement when pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term ends in November, but it is highly unlikely that lawmakers will be able to agree on a candidate.

Moussa said Lebanon's problems must all be addressed at once.

"It is possible to agree on all these matters at the same time. Time is running out on Lebanon," he told reporters after talks with Lahoud. "Setting priorities could have been possible had we had a year or more ahead of us but now there is only three to four months."