Lebanese Army Girdles Palestinian Camps

07/10/2005| IslamWeb

The Lebanese army has ordered its units deployed around Palestinian refugee camps to confront what the government said was a likely Israeli assault, Aljazeera' correspondent in Lebanon said.

Bt the deployment came after a number of members of parliament called on armed groups in the Palestinian refugee camps to disarm.

Earlier, a siege was imposed by the Lebanese army on a position for a Palestinian faction deemed to be pro-Syria.

A number of MPs headed by opposition leader Michel Aoun accused the government of not taking the matter seriously enough.

In response, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command criticised the Lebanese government over what it described as "pressing siege" imposed on a number of its military positions in Lebanon.

Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi Al-Aridi has rejected demands for disarming the refugee camps and Hizbullah in accordance with the Security Council resolution 1550.

"Those two files, can only be resolved within Lebanese internal dialogue," he said at the end of a government meeting.

He stressed at the same time that Lebanon would not accept to destroy itself for the sake of others. He declined to elaborate further.

PHOTO CAPTION

Lebanese policemen in Beirut October 4, 2005. (REUTERS)