Inter-Palestinian clash wounds two in northern Lebanon

Mar 19, 2007, 20:03 GMT

Beirut - Two Palestinians who belong to the mainstream Fatah movement were wounded late Monday in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon during a clash with a member of a fundamentalist Palestinian group, Palestinian sources said.

The sources said two Fatah members were wounded in the legs when an armed member of the new Fatah al-Islam movement opened fire on them in the Naher al-Bard Palestinian refugee camp.

Sources inside Fatah al-Islam said, 'The incident was the result of a personal dispute.'

The Islamist Fatah al-Islam on Friday denied it had links to al- Qaeda after it was accused by the Lebanese authorities of being responsible for a February 13 twin bus-bombing north-east of Beirut that killed three people and wounded 20 others.

The leader of the new group, Chaker Abssi, has variously been linked by security officials to Syrian militant groups, to the 2002 assassination of a US diplomat, to al-Qaeda in Iraq and to Sunni militants who have fought in Iraq.

Last week Lebanese Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa said that four people had been arrested in connection with the bombing, and that they were Syrian nationals who belonged to a group called Fatah al- Islam.

He said the group was connected to the Syrian-based Palestinian group Fatah Uprising and charged it was controlled by Syrian intelligence.

Abssi disputed the charges, saying that the suspects were not connected to his group and insisting that his group was not connected to any other groups 'on earth.'

The emergence of the new group inside the refugee camps has stirred concerns among Palestinian groups in Lebanon, who said the group was not affiliated with any Palestinian organizations.

Abu al-Anian, a Palestinian official and Fatah spokesman in Lebanon, said there is the fear that the presence of such a group inside the Palestinian camps could present 'a real danger.'

Since the accusations were raised against Fatah-al Islam by the Lebanese authorities, the Lebanese troops who control the entrance to Naher al-Bard have tightened security measures around the camp.

Some 150-200 members of Fatah al-Islam have established their base since arriving from neighbouring Syria into Lebanon in November 2006 inside the Naher al-Bard camp, which is located on the outskirts of the northern port city of Tripoli.