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| Middle East |
| ''We're livin' in an Islamic paradise...'' |
| 2002-08-14 |
| Even in a camp notorious for its lawlessness, yesterdayâs violence at Ain el-Hilweh was rated the worst in ten years. Security sources said the Lebanese attackers, belonging to the Dunniyeh Muslim militant group, sprayed automatic fire and threw grenades at positions held by the Fatah movement, killing one Fatah fighter. Fatah guerrillas fired back, killing one Islamist. Well, that sounds fair: one for one... The exchange of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades lasted an hour, damaged several houses, wrecked cars and blasted down water pipes in the shanty town, home to some 75,000 Palestinians. We should have more of this... Islamist groups in the camp, where the Lebanese army confines its presence to checkpoints outside entrances, have threatened to attack any group that hands other suspected militants over to Lebanese authorities. Many wanted Lebanese and Palestinian gunmen are believed to be hiding inside the shanty town. Note that these festivities are taking place in someone else's country. There is no obligation on any Paleostinian to obey any law, anywhere, if it interferes with him having his way... Khaled Aref, a Fatah official, said the various Palestinian and Islamist groups had decided to issue an ultimatum to the Dunniyeh militants. "We agreed to issue a warning to the members of this group to hand themselves over. If they surrender, they would avoid bloodshed and if they donât we are determined to arrest them by force and hand them over to the Lebanese state," Mr Aref said. There was a "general consensus" that the Dunniyeh militants should be arrested and handed over to the Lebanese "today rather than tomorrow". That means there's going to be more of this. I'm so happy. If they're shooting each other up, they're not shooting anyone else up... But one militant, Abu Ramiz Sahmarani, said that he and his colleagues would not surrender to the authorities under any circumstances. He added that his group would avenge the killing of one of its members in yesterdayâs clash. "That's cuz revenge is, y'know, like, important..." "We will not hand over ourselves to those infidels [Fatah] and we will not leave the camp even if there is a bloodbath. We are on Islamic territory and among Muslims," said Mr Sahmarani, who refused to allow photographers to take pictures of him. Especially if there's a bloodbath, 'cause bloodbaths are what Islamists do best... Some of the suspects are wanted in connection with a militant Islamist uprising in the town of Dunniyeh in northern Lebanon in 2000, which was put down by the army only after 40 people had been killed in some of the bloodiest clashes that Lebanon has seen since the countryâs brutal, 15-year civil war ended in 1990. In the streets of Ain el-Hilweh, tension remained high. Few people left their homes while Palestinian fighters roamed the streets of the camp, some apparently surrounding the area where the Islamist militants were thought to be hiding. Note that they have nothing better to do than roam the streets, totin' shootin' arns. Wotta life... "I wish they would finish them [the Islamists] off because I am sitting in the middle of all this and it is getting worse," said one Palestinian man, Abu Ibrahim, in his sixties. Think head shots... A little more detail on this, via the Times of London... Tensions reached a climax early yesterday when several rebels of the Dinnieh group and members of an allied Islamist group called Jamaat al-Nour attacked a checkpoint manned by Fatah fighters. The 45-minute gunbattle, the worst bout of violence in the camp for several years, left at least two people dead and seven wounded. âWe have no choice but to get rid of these people,â Khaled Aref, the head of Fatah in Ain al-Hilweh, said. âThe nationalist and Islamic forces in the camp are united in condemning this attack and in wanting these people turned over to Lebanese authorities.â But Jamaat al-Nour remained defiant, vowing to transform ânot only the camp but the whole of Lebanon into a pool of bloodâ if they are forced to turn over the Dinnieh insurgents. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |