Truce Holds In Besieged Refugee Camp

Hundreds more Palestinian civilians trickled out of a besieged refugee camp yesterday, joining 15,000 who fled overnight as a shaky truce mostly held.

Nearly half the camps more than 30,000 residents fled late at night when the lull took hold between Lebanese troops and Islamic militants barricaded in the crowded Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, relief officials said.

About 1,000 more followed them this morning.

Those fleeing reported bodies littering the camps streets and scenes of blasted buildings and destruction. Officials said the bodies of at least 20 civilians have been retrieved from inside.

But it was unclear how long the truce would hold, and there were fears that allowing civilians out could be a prelude for a major showdown.

The Lebanese government has said it is determined to uproot the militant Fatah Islam, and the army has said its troops were trying to target only militant positions.

Fatah Islam, which took up residence in the camp late last year, has vowed to fight a "life or death battle".

The ceasefire which went into effect yesterday afternoon didnt begin to take hold until after sunset.

With the guns largely falling silent, thousands of refugees dashed out of the camp after being pinned down since fighting broke out on Sunday.

But earlier, a relief convoy came under fire as UN workers tried to deliver food an water to residents in Nahr el-Bared, home to 31,000 refugees.

A UN official said some who approached the convoy seeking supplies were wounded or killed, but he did not have exact figures.

John Holmes, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, called the attack on the UN Relief and Works Agency convoy "outrageous and completely unacceptable."

He warned that no successful steps had yet been taken to ensure humanitarian access to the camps, although his office and UNRWA were appealing for it.

The refugees have largely moved to a nearby Palestinian refugee camp at Beddawi, where UN relief officials and locals provided shelter, mattresses, food and water.

Twenty-nine soldiers and at least 20 militants have been killed since the battle began on Sunday in the heaviest internal fighting in Lebanon since the 1975-90 civil war.

Taleb al-Salhani, a security officer of the UNRWA said today the bodies of 20 civilians - men, women and children - were retrieved from the camp. But the total number of civilian casualties remained unknown.

This weeks fighting raises the ominous prospect that parts of Lebanon could become havens for terrorists training to attack the West - similar to lawless regions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The small country is home to some 215,000 Palestinian refugees who live in a dozen camps, which are rife with armed groups and Islamic extremists including Fatah Islam.

The shadowy groups leader, Palestinian Shaker al-Absi, has been linked to the former head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and is believed to have recruited about 100 fighters, including militants from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and other Arab countries.

The militarys attack at the camp has also raised fears the fighting could destabilise Lebanons uneasy balance among its many religious sects and factions.

The US-backed government already faces a domestic political crisis, with the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah militant group campaigning for its removal.

But so far, the opposition has supported the assault.

The Shiite Muslims of Hezbollah deeply opposes Sunni militant groups like Fatah Islam, and the movement issued a statement stressing the militarys duty to safeguard the country.

The Bush administration also has said it supports Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, a close US ally, but hinted that it suspected Syrias involvement in the conflict.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said the militants wanted to distract international attention from an effort at the UN to establish a tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Lebanese security officials accuse Syria of using Fatah Islam to destabilise Lebanon, a charge Damascus denies.

Syria controlled Lebanon for decades until growing street demonstrations by Lebanese and international pressure forced it to withdraw its troops after Hariris assassination.

AP

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