Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora provided the U.N. and Arab League with evidence linking the Fatah al-Islam terrorists to the Syrian regime. Siniora sent U.N. chief Bank Ki-moon and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa latest updates on Fatah al-Islam's links with Syria, and Hizbullah's armament.Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said at the end of a cabinet session on Tuesday evening that the memorandums contained "information obtained by Lebanese army intelligence services and the information department of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) about armament in the country and the situation at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in North Lebanon. The letters are aimed at giving an accurate image of what is happening in the country."
He said the government decided to refer the assassination of anti-Syrian MP Antoine Ghanem to the Judicial Council. Ghanem was killed in a car bomb in Beirut's Sin el-Fil neighborhood on September 19. Aridi said Saniora has asked Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar - which he recently visited -- to provide the Lebanese army, police as well as the government and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) with the "necessary support" to rebuild the Nahr al-Bared camp and allow its residents to recover their homes. Starting Wednesday, the displaced families will be allowed to return in groups of 100 families per day, UNRWA said. Some 30,000 refugees fled Nahr el-Bared during the battle between Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese army.
The repatriation is being organized by UNRWA in collaboration with both Lebanese and Palestinian groups. The Lebanese army has said the camp will be completely cleared of gunmen, unexploded shells, mines and booby traps before anyone returns, and the government has promised to rebuild devastated parts of Nahr el-Bared Aridi said the cabinet also agreed to a request by Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh to issue stamps in honor of sacrifices made by troops at Nahr al-Bared.
On the issue of Hizbullah's unlawful phone networking, Aridi said the government was waiting for confirmation that all lines - which run parallel to the state's phone system -- had been removed. Lebanese authorities in August revealed that the installation of the underground cables had been discovered in the south Lebanon as well as in Beirut and its suburbs.
Aridi also said that a committee had been set up to follow up on the fires that swept Lebanon earlier this month and study ways to deal with the "damaged areas." He said that Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa issued a decision on Monday "forbidding residents from using the areas hit by fire."