NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, 21 August 2007 — A Lebanese soldier was killed fighting Islamist militants in north Lebanon yesterday and a second died of wounds sustained in the conflict, a military source said. The army launched a series of air raids on the Fatah Al-Islam militants, who are holed up in the Nahr Al-Bared Palestinian camp where they have been fighting for three months.
The fighting, Lebanon’s worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war, has killed 140 soldiers, at least 100 militants and 41 civilians. The public prosecutor yesterday charged 107 detainees, mostly Lebanese and Palestinians, with membership of Fatah Al-Islam. An official wanted list showed a large Saudi presence in the ranks of the Al-Qaeda-inspired group.
Army helicopters bombed the center of the camp at least eight times yesterday, targeting an area where the militants are holed up, witnesses said. Tanks also opened fire on the camp, much of which has been reduced to rubble. Most of Nahr Al-Bared’s 40,000 residents fled in the early days of the battle to the nearby Beddawi camp.
A rocket fired from the camp by the militants damaged a nearby building, security sources said. The army accuses Fatah Al-Islam of triggering the conflict by attacking army positions on May 20. The group has refused to give in to army demands for an unconditional surrender. Fatah Al-Islam shares Al-Qaeda’s ideology but says it has no organizational ties to the network.
The prosecutor general charged 107 detainees with belonging to Fatah Al-Islam. They include 62 Lebanese, 36 Palestinians, two Syrians, a Tunisian and an Algerian, according to charge sheets obtained by Reuters. The document listed another 119 as wanted, including Fatah Al-Islam leader Shaker Al-Abbasi — a veteran Palestinian guerrilla. The list included 38 Saudis, 11 Syrians an Iraqi, a Yemeni and many others of unknown nationality.
Fatah Al-Islam split from a Syrian-backed Palestinian faction last year. The anti-Syrian Lebanese cabinet has described the group as an instrument of Syrian intelligence — a charge denied by Fatah Al-Islam and Damascus. The conflict has added to instability in Lebanon, where six UN peacekeepers and two anti-Syrian lawmakers have also been killed in attacks in the past eight months.
