Lebanese police secure the scene a day after an explosion hit the Verdun shopping area in the Muslim sector of Beirut, Lebanon Tuesday, May 22, 2007.
Photo: AP
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Fatah Islam Crosses the Line
The Lebanese Army received the order on Monday night to eliminate the Palestinian extremist group Fatah Islam. Clashes with that group began on Sunday. In response, the group announced that it would spread its militant actions to the whole of the country, and a strong blast took place in Beirut soon afterward. Ten people, including one child, were injured.
The terrorist act occurred in the western part of the city in the predominantly Sunni Muslim Berdana neighborhood. The explosives were planted in a car parked close to a supermarket and had the equivalent of 10 kg. of TNT. The number of victims of the blast was minimized by the fact that it occurred at a late hour. Windows were broken in the Russian cultural center, located at a distance of 150 m. Fatah Islam claimed responsibility for the act.
The Lebanese Army then redoubled its efforts against the organization, which is largely surrounded in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, near Tripoli in Lebanon, which is home to about 30,000 Palestinian refugees. Dozens of homes have been destroyed and there is no electricity or water in the camp. The injured and wounded cannot be removed from the rubble because of the ceaseless bombardment.
Experts say that a humanitarian crisis is in the making. Antigovernment demonstrations have taken place in other refugee camps in response.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 23, 2007
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