U.N. Relief Convoy Hit in Lebanon Battle

[oberliner]

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) - A convoy of U.N. relief supplies was hit in a third day of fighting Tuesday between Lebanese troops and an Islamic militant group holed up in a crowded Palestinian refugee camp.

In two other refugee camps in Lebanon, angry Palestinians burned tires to protest the Lebanese army assault on the northern camp of Nahr el-Bared. The unrest heightened 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 other refugee camps, where Islamic extremists have been growing in influence.

Overnight, the Lebanese government ordered the army to finish off the militants who have set up in Nahr el-Bared, 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 Sunday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6652386,00.html

[bemildred]

1. Kick. nt

[oberliner]

2. Lebanese Defense Minister to militants: Surrender or die

Lebanon's defense minister issued an ultimatum Wednesday to Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp to surrender or face death in a military onslaught, as the army reinforced its positions, raising fears of what could be a bloody showdown.

Since Sunday, heavy clashes between the al Qaida-inspired Fatah al-Islam militant group and the Lebanese army have left some 50 people dead and dozens wounded near the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

Fatah al-Islam fighters vowed not to give up and to resist any Lebanese assault.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/862495.html

[Lurking Dem]

3. This is horrible.