Strife deepens in north Lebanon

The Lebanese army Monday unleashed a torrent of firepower on a Palestinian refugee camp that is home to a militant group loyal to Al Qaeda, amid fears that the 2-day-old conflict could spread and undermine a government already beset by political schism.

The fighting has claimed at least 50 lives, and is the worst internal conflict since Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990.

Fighting erupted in another Palestinian refugee camp in the south, and a bomb exploded in a Sunni Muslim neighborhood in the capital, injuring six people. It was unclear whether the incidents were linked to the fighting here in the north.

A spokesman for the militant group, Fatah al Islam, told wire services that if the army siege did not stop, militants would step up attacks elsewhere.

Inside the camp Monday, dead fighters lay in the streets as snipers from Fatah al Islam crouched on rooftops. Several buildings had been destroyed by shelling.

Wounded civilians could not be treated because electricity and water had been cut off, residents said.

“The human situation is a catastrophe,” said Fatah Deeb, a doctor inside the camp. “We were not able to carry out any surgical operation,” he said before his phone went dead.

Red Cross officials said they were able to retrieve at least 17 injured civilians during a brief cease-fire that was broken before aid workers could establish a presence inside.

Experts believe Fatah al Islam has no more than a few hundred fighters, many from other Arab countries.

But observers said the group appeared to be using the country’s instability to establish a foothold and “institutionalize” Al Qaeda in Lebanon.

“Lebanon offers a fertile ground for Al Qaeda,” said Oussama Safa, a Beirut-based analyst. “My biggest fear is that Al Qaeda might rush to the rescue.”

Lebanon already is a crossroads for conflict. A dozen Palestinian refugee camps house about 400,000 people and have often served as bases for militant organizations. Last year, Israel fought a 34-day war against Hezbollah, a radical Shiite Muslim group that dominates much of the southern part of the country. Lebanon also has been divided between a pro-Syrian camp, which includes Hezbollah, and a Western-oriented faction that opposes Syrian influence.

Hezbollah has stayed away from the fray, but on Sunday issued a statement blaming the government for the country’s growing insecurity.

“If the authorities cannot assume the responsibility and protect the citizens and the country, then they should resign,” Michel Aoun, a Christian opposition lawmaker allied with the Shiite group, said Monday.

The government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has accused Syria of supporting Fatah al Islam with weapons and money, a charge denied by the group and the government in Damascus.

President Bush, speaking to Reuters news agency on Air Force One, said that “extremists that are trying to topple that young democracy need to be reined in.”

Bush stopped short of accusing Syria of involvement. “I’ll be guarded on making accusations until I get better information, but I will tell you there’s no doubt that Syria was deeply involved in Lebanon. There’s no question they’re still involved in Lebanon.”

Hezbollah, listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, is backed by neighboring Syria, which dominated politics and stationed troops in Lebanon for decades. Siniora’s government is split between pro-Syria and anti-Syria forces.

Ahmed Ayoubi, an expert on Islamist groups, said Al Qaeda associates had been arrested recently in the northern port city of Tripoli.

“Some members of the group are real Islamists who fought in Iraq and abide by Al Qaeda’s ideology.” Others, he said, are locals, motivated by poverty and resentment of the government. “It is not easy to get rid of a group like Fatah al Islam.”

The radical group is led by Shaker Absi, who was released from prison in Syria last year.

Absi is wanted by Jordanian authorities, after he was sentenced to death in absentia for his alleged role in the assassination of an American diplomat there in 2002.

Authorities say members of the group based in Nahr el Bared were planning to attack a German train and were behind a February bombing that killed three commuters on a bus in a Christian area in the mountains above Beirut.

Despite its foothold in Nahr el Bared, the group appears to have little support inside the camp, which is home to about 40,000 Palestinian refugees.

“The shelling is indiscriminate,” said Ashraf Ibrahim, 30, a resident in the camp. “What is our fault? Fatah al Islam is not part of the camp. They are intruders.”

In Washington, a State Department spokesman said the Lebanese army was operating in a “legitimate manner” against “provocations by violent extremists.”

“This is a group that has been involved in violence to achieve whatever their stated objective may be,” spokesman Sean McCormack said, referring to Fatah al Islam.

The presence of Fatah al Islam in the camp has been known for a while, but the government has been reluctant to stage an all-out assault.

Lebanese soldiers are bound by a 1969 agreement not to enter the camp.

Safa, the analyst, said there could be other compelling reasons for the government’s restraint until now.

“The government was hesitant to act maybe for sectarian reasons or for concern about people in the camps,” but “this should have been foreseen,” he said.

A bank heist Saturday led to the raid that started the fighting.

Four men believed to be members of the militant group robbed a bank near Tripoli, threatening tellers with guns and a homemade bomb before speeding off with $125,000 and a bag of blank checks in their black Mercedes, security officials said.

The next day, Lebanese security forces trying to arrest the suspected robbers were met with a barrage of bullets and grenades from an apartment in an affluent Tripoli neighborhood where the suspects had barricaded themselves. Soldiers later killed 10 men inside the apartment. Several were wearing explosives belts, officials said.

Two of the men were identified by the officials as Abu Yassen and Saddam Hajj Did, believed to be key leaders of Fatah al Islam. Other members of the group, meanwhile, overran a Lebanese checkpoint, and fighting spread to the camp.

The military brought thousands of troops from the capital to surround the camp, unleashing a barrage of artillery and tank fire against its decrepit buildings.

Palestinian refugees and their descendants have been living in Lebanon’s refugee camps for decades. They are allowed to hold only menial jobs outside the camps, and as a result residents are generally destitute.

“We are working on improving the situation in the camps,” said Khalil Makkawi, a government official. “For 60 years, the camps were totally neglected, so it’s going to be a long road before we can solve all the problems.”

roug@latimes.com

Special correspondent Rafei reported from Nahr el Bared and Times staff writer Roug from Beirut.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Lebanon Q&A;

Question: Who is fighting?

Answer: Lebanon’s army is battling a small militant group called Fatah al Islam, believed to be linked to Al Qaeda. The group set up its headquarters last fall in a Palestinian refugee camp near the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli, after Syria released its leader from jail. The fighting broke out Sunday when police raided militants’ hide-outs in the city, searching for suspected bank robbers. Fighters burst out of the nearby refugee camp and ambushed army troops who had been called in to help. The army then laid siege to the camp with tanks and artillery.

Q: Why are there Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon?

A: Lebanon still has about 400,000 Palestinians, mostly refugees who fled there after Israel was created in 1948 and their descendants. Many are crowded into impoverished and often violent camps, banned from all but menial jobs and mostly living off United Nations aid. Nahr el Bared, the site of the siege, has about 40,000 residents.

Q: Is the current fighting linked to last summer’s Lebanon war?

A: That war was between Israel and Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. It broke out after the Shiite Muslim group seized two Israeli soldiers. Lebanon’s army was mostly a bystander.

Q: What about Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war? Are there connections to that?

A: Again, not directly. But much of the trouble does stem from that period. The civil war was fought among the country’s Christian, Shiite and Sunni Muslim populations, with Palestinian guerrillas siding with Muslim factions and Israel at one point backing Christians. It devolved into struggles between powerful warlords, some of whom called on armed Palestinian factions to help their cause. Syria sent troops to restore calm, leading to its longtime dominance of Lebanon until Damascus was forced to withdraw its tens of thousands of troops in 2005. The civil war also left Lebanon’s central government deeply suspicious of Palestinian refugees while mostly powerless to control their camps.

Source: Associated Press