Clashes will 'trigger violence' around Lebanon

A senior official of a radical Palestinian faction today warned that if the Lebanese army launches an assault to wipe out an Islamic militant group barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp, it would trigger violence in other camps.

The Lebanese government has ordered the army to finish off the Fatah Islam militants who are holed up in the Nahr el-Bared camp, where 31,000 Palestinian refugees live on the outskirts of the northern port of Tripoli. At least 50 combatants have been killed since fighting erupted on Sunday.

A truce in the four-day fighting allowed hundreds of Palestinian civilians to flee the besieged refugee camp. But it was unclear how long the truce would hold, and there were fears that allowing civilians out could be a prelude for a major showdown.

Abu Imad Rifai, the Lebanon representative of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, warned against resorting to a military solution.

“There is a conviction on the part of many (Palestinians) that a military solution cannot lead to results or end the battle once and for all. There should be another mechanism” for a solution, Rifai said in an interview with Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station.

He said during meetings with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, the government assured it would deal with the Fatah Islam “phenomenon by peaceful means, rather than by a military solution.”

“The repercussions and consequences of a military solution will not be confined only to our people in Nahr el-Bared, but it is feared that the cycle of violence will spread to other areas and other camps,” Rifai said.

His warning came a day after angry Palestinians burned tires in two other refugee camps in Lebanon to protest the Lebanese army artillery bombardment of the Nahr el-Bared camp, heightening fears that the military’s attempt to crush the al Qaida-inspired Fatah Islam could provoke a broader backlash among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the other 11 refugee camps.

Rifai said Fatah Islam was not a Palestinian movement.

“Fatah Islam is an Islamic militant and fundamentalist movement and not a Palestinian movement,” he said. “Fatah Islam’s members are Lebanese, Syrians, Saudis and Yemenis. This indicates that the ramifications of Fatah Islam are not confined only to Nahr el-Bared.”