Families of Fatah al-Islam leave Lebanon for Syria

Oct 17, 2007, 13:00 GMT

Beirut - Eleven families of the militant movement Fatah al- Islam left Lebanon for Syria Wednesday following weeks of negotiations, a Lebanese border security said.

The families were among 17 who fled the fighting between the militants and the Lebanese army in north Lebanon and sought refuge at the al-Arqam mosque in Sidon.

Six families stayed behind in Sidon, including that of Chaker al- Abbsi, the movement's leader who is still at large, for not having proper documents, the source said.

'We have all the proper documents but our delays are for certain security measures,' Abbsi's wife was quoted as saying.

The families that were able to leave comprised either Syrian mothers and their children or Palestinians living in Syria, said the source who was at the Syrian-Lebanese border to oversee the crossing of the families.

Fifteen weeks of battles between Lebanese troops and Fatah Islam militants in Nahr el-Bared ended with the army crushing the Islamic group on September 2. Around 222 militants were killed in the fighting while others were either captured or still at large such as Abbsi.

Early Wednesday, the women who were clad in black from head to toe, boarded two General Security buses in front of the al-Arqam Mosque and left accompanied by two vehicles, one for the Lebanese Red Cross and another for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The women and children were evacuated by the Lebanese army from the camp in August. At the time 25 women and 38 children left the besieged camp.

Their evacuation paved the way for the Lebanese army to crush the militants and take control of the camp.

The source said the six families that remained in Sidon included four Jordanians which their country refused to receive and two Syrians who did not have the proper documents.

Sheikh Ali al-Youssef member of the Palestinian Scholars' Association, who is negotiating the deal with the Lebanese officials, said contacts are underway with Jordanian and Syrian officials to allow the rest of the families to leave Lebanon.