Lebanese PM urges Palestinian leaders to end armed clashes in refugee camp

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday urged Palestinian leaders to stop the armed clashes in the Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon.

   Mikati made the remarks in a phone call to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss recent clashes between Palestinian factions in the refugee camp in Sidon, the National News Agency reported.

It added that Mikati also called Azzam Al-Ahmad, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Dabbour for the same purpose.

   Mikati said the clashes constitute flagrant violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty, adding that the Lebanese army and security forces will “play their role to ensure security and stop the fighting.”

   On Thursday, Fathi Abu Al-Ardat, the secretary of the Fatah movement in Lebanon, said the Fatah is working hard to bring a cease-fire into force after five days of fierce clashes in the refugee camp.

   “We are facing a test of the cease-fire, and we are working hard on it,” the Elnashra news website quoted Al-Ardat as saying.

   Several armed clashes broke out in the Ain Al-Helweh camp between Fatah members and Islamic militants since early Sunday morning, leaving at least 11 people killed and 40 others injured.

   Fighting escalated late on Wednesday night, and on Thursday there was a cautious calm.



   Clashes between rival groups often occur in the Ain Al-Helweh camp, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp.