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U.S. resupplies Lebanon army, battle for camp looms

25 May 2007 19:55:12 GMT
Source: Reuters

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Lebanese soldiers carry a sand bag at the entrance of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon May 25, 2007. The United States sent military aid to Lebanon on Friday and the Lebanese army deployed extra troops to a Palestinian camp where it has been battling Islamist militants this week.
REUTERS/JAMAL SAIDI

Background

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(Adds Hezbollah chief, paragraphs 15-16)

By Nazih Siddiq

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, May 25 (Reuters) - The United States and Arab allies sent military aid to Lebanon on Friday and the Lebanese army deployed extra troops to a Palestinian camp where it has been battling Islamist militants this week.

A fragile truce held between the army and the Fatah al-Islam militant group in northern Lebanon at the Nahr al-Bared camp, where the faction is based, despite sporadic clashes. The fighting, which started on Sunday, has killed 76 people.

Lebanese Defence Minister Elias al-Murr said the government was leaving room for negotiations but the army would act if necessary. "What is required is the handing over of those terrorists and criminals," he told reporters.

Murr gave no details on the talks, but a delegation from the main Palestinian factions has been holding extensive meetings with Lebanese leaders in a bid to end the crisis.

A Palestinian source feared the Lebanese army was gearing up for a large-scale attack on the militants in the next 48 hours, which could spark trouble in other parts of Lebanon.

At least 33 soldiers and 25 militants have been killed in what is the worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. Thousands have fled the camp, where Palestinian sources say at least 18 civilians have been killed and 100 wounded.

A group describing itself as al Qaeda's wing in the Levant threatened to carry out bombings in Lebanon and attacks on Christians unless Beirut withdrew the army from Nahr al-Bared.

"No crusader will be safe in Lebanon after today. As you hit you will be hit," said a speaker identified as the military leader of the group in a Web recording.

Three bombs have hit the Beirut area this week, killing one woman and wounding about 20 people.

U.S. SUPPORT

At least six U.S. and Arab military supply planes arrived at Beirut airport carrying ammunition and other light equipment from U.S. depots in the region and from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, security sources said.

Beirut requested more U.S. and Arab military aid after fighting erupted on Sunday.

"What the Lebanese are doing right now is trying to bring law and order and establish a rule of law in Lebanon and that is something that is in the interests of everyone," U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.

He did not have details on the ammunition delivery. The United States has provided about $45 million in military aid to Lebanon over the past year.

Late on Thursday, Congress approved a budget request of $770 million in aid for Lebanon, of which $280 million is earmarked for military assistance. On top of $230 million agreed last year for Lebanon, this brings U.S. aid until end-2007 to $1 billion.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah expressed scepticism over the U.S. role and called for the formation of a national salvation government to resolve the crisis.

"Is what is required is to transform Lebanon into a confrontation arena between America and al Qaeda?" he said, warning that moving into the camp would damage the Lebanese army and destabilise the country.

UNRWA, the U.N. agency which cares for Palestinian refugees, said around 15,000 people were still in the camp, home to some 40,000 before it came under heavy army shelling this week.

Thousands who fled the fighting are sheltering in a nearby refugee camp where relief workers are delivering aid.

Extra Lebanese soldiers arrived at the camp, which the army is not allowed to enter under a 1969 Arab agreement, witnesses said. The 40,000-strong army is already stretched with significant deployments along the border with Israel in south Lebanon, Syria to the north and east and in and around Beirut. Lebanese leaders have vowed to stamp out the group, which is led by a Palestinian but has little support among Lebanon's Palestinian refugee community of around 400,000.

Lebanon's Defence Ministry estimates between 50 and 60 militants have been killed in the fighting, which the army says started after Fatah al-Islam launched unprovoked attacks on soldiers. The militants say they acted in self-defence.

Fatah al-Islam is inspired by the Sunni militant group al Qaeda. The Lebanese authorities say they have arrested Saudi, Algerian, Tunisian, Syrian and Lebanese members of the group.

Anti-Syrian Lebanese leaders say Fatah al-Islam is a tool of Syrian intelligence. Damascus and the group deny the charge. (Additional reporting by Nadim Ladki and Tom Perry in Beirut and Reuters bureau in Washington)

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Last updated:Fri May 25 19:56:04 2007