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Syria-Lebanon
7 killed as fighting rocks Ain al-Hilweh
2003-05-20
Followup to the recent exchanges of dirt naps in the Hellhole
An uneasy cease-fire was reached between various factions in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp Monday after vicious fighting left seven people dead and some 55 wounded. The fighting broke out shortly after noon between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah Movement and factions loyal to it, and the Usbat al-Nur faction, a splinter of the larger Usbat al-Ansar that is suspected of links with Al-Qaeda.
Paleo civil war? get your popcorn, pull up a chair, and cheer for both sides to lose
Weapons of various caliber were used in the fighting that caused hundreds of families in the country’s largest refugee camp and some from neighboring areas to flee to the safety of farther areas.
Run away!
The clashes forced the army and the Red Cross to evacuate patients and staff from the Sidon Public Hospital at the main entrance of the camp, which houses some 70,000 thugs crazies, gun-sex maniacs refugees. Rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns were heard in Sidon, scaring the residents of the port city. The leader of Usbat al-Nur, Abdullah Shreidi, was gravely wounded
Damn I was hoping he'd be dead still
in a shootout with Fatah on Saturday and his uncle, Yehia Shreidi, and a follower, Fouad Farhoud, were killed.
Ah, yes. They will be missed. Mainly 'cuz somebody else didn't miss...
The round of fighting on Monday allegedly erupted when Yehia’s relatives insisted on burying him and Farhoud at one of the camp’s graveyards, where his brother Hisham Shreidi, a founder of Usbat al-Ansar, was buried. But the Fatah gunmen prevented them from doing so and ordered them to bury the bodies elsewhere.
like Syria
"We don't want them here. They'll bother Grandmaw!"
The burial did not take place and the dispute continued until Monday morning, when armed men from both sides were seen patrolling in large numbers throughout the camp’s streets, especially near both the groups’ headquarters. Around midday, the two sides started trading heavy gunfire, which continued for two hours non-stop before spreading to the Taytaba neighborhood. The Shreidi group then advanced in the direction of the Fatah gunmen, until they reached the outskirts of their headquarters. the Sharks and the Jets
Meanwhile, the fire exchanged between the two sides hit some civilian and non-civilian locations outside the camp,
Expect UN/EU/Sarandon outcry any day soon tick.... tick...
especially in the Al-Villat, Al-Taamir and Madrasat al-Amircan neighborhoods. One rocket exploded near an army position located at the camp’s main entrance, while two others hit an outside wall of the city’s main government hospital.
Meanwhile, the army and the Internal Security Forces stopped traffic on all roads surrounding the camp and set up both fixed and moving checkpoints in the immediate area. Moreover, dozens of families lay on the ground in public gardens and footpaths around the camp, waiting for the fighting to stop.
What a way to live...
At around 4 pm, some Palestinian leaders attempted to contact the factions for the purpose of achieving a cease-fire. The cease-fire talks were led on the Islamist side by Sheikh Jamal Khattab, along with leaders from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups. The Fatah negotiators were led by the head of Fatah’s militia in Ein el-Hilweh, Colonel Mounir Maqdah, and the Fatah official in the Bekaa, Colonel Khaled Shayeb, together with the secretary of the Palestinian committees in Sidon, Abed Maqdah. Fatah broadcast a statement on its loudspeakers expressing willingness to stop the fighting if the other side did the same. Loudspeakers on several mosques started urging fighters to stop the bloodshed. Following that, a meeting was held at Al-Nour Mosque, which is controlled by Usbat al-Ansar. Delegates for the various groups took part in the meeting and a cease-fire was announced, with Usbat claiming to observe it. A statement was broadcast by Sheikh Khattab at the Safsaf Mosque calling for dialogue to begin. As evening descended, the fighting died down and a tense calm prevailed. However, a number of Shreidi’s fighters did not respect the cease-fire
Comes as a surprise, huh?
and tried to advance in the direction of the Fatah positions, but the Usbat al-Ansar group prevented the fighting from resuming.
damn
The cease-fire paved the way for first aid to be provided to the wounded and for more talks to get under way in a bid to reach a permanent truce. One of the people killed was a Syrian national, two were from the Shreidi group and the Usbat al-Ansar group, and one was a civilian. The wounded were taken to Sidon hospitals, and heavy damage to private properties was reported. Muslim radicals attacked Fatah’s camp headquarters in August 2002, killing a Fatah member and an Islamist fighter. Since then, dozens of bomb and grenade attacks have targeted offices of both mainstream and pro-Syrian Palestinian factions in Ein el-Hilweh and the nearby Mieh Mieh camp. Between five and seven Lebanese Sunni fundamentalists, accused of links with Al-Qaeda have been hiding in Ein el-Hilweh ever since the Lebanese Army put down an Islamist insurrection in Dinnieh in January 2000. Fatah’s commander in Lebanon, Brigadier Sultan Abul-Ainayn, said on Sunday that his group was responsible for shooting the Usbat al-Nour chief, Abdullah Shreidi, whom he accused of having terrorized the camp. “Orders to kill him have been taken and it is a matter of time before he is actually liquidated,” he told reporters.
Sounds serious — take a life insurance policy out on him — now
Abul-Ainayn had blamed Shreidi for the murder of seven Fatah members and four civilians in the past few years. Shreidi’s supporters had pledged to throw the body of the “traitor” Mounir Maqdah to the dogs.
the dogs don't deserve that
Mahmoud Zayyat, a photojournalist who works with Agence France Presse and the daily Ad-Diyar, was also shot in the foot at the northern entrance of the camp before he was carried to safety by Ahmad a fellow photojournalist.
shot in the foot? wasn't he near death in yesterday's post? pussies!
Posted by:Frank G

#7  Cricket and the similes to the events at Ein el-Hilweh (ie not Lords):
"Maiden" - no score in an "over" (that'll be Abdullah Shreidi getting away with it)
"Wicket Maiden" - no score in an "over" and you get someone "out" (that'll be when Yehia Shreidi and Fouad Farhoud were "out", actually that's a double wicket maiden and is quite good)

Mr Zayyat, not being "out", but being injured, is allowed a "runner" who can bat for him.

Brigadier Sultan Abul-Ainayn, in stating that he will get Mr Abdullah Shreidi "out" is merely engaging in idle banter designed to "rattle" Mr Shreidi, no doubt the Brigadier has a "Yorker" in the form of an RPG ready for Mr Shreidi.

Also note that the "tea interval" (yes, they sit down to cups of tea, cucumber sandwiches and small bits of cake) is about 4pm in cricket, ie when they had their cease-fire, hmm...

Now all I have to do is rid my mind of these nutters in cricket whites hurling large calibre ordinance at each other...
Posted by: Tony   2003-05-20 20:14:02  

#6  Weapons of various caliber were used in the fighting that caused hundreds of families in the country’s largest refugee camp and some from neighboring areas to flee to the safety of farther areas.
When you think about it, it's funny in a sick sort of way that refugees would have to seek refuge from a refugee camp. Also, isn't Islamic law pretty big on burying the dead within 24 hours? Preventing that would be a major provocation, no?
Posted by: 11A5S   2003-05-20 12:56:48  

#5  Ein Hellhole is one exit ramp I wouldn't take on the roadmap to peace.
Posted by: tu3031   2003-05-20 12:13:10  

#4  "The Fighting Rocks"--That would make a good name for a sports team or a band. Of course, then the Anti Rock Defamation League would get their panties in a twist.
Posted by: Dar   2003-05-20 10:15:48  

#3  All good questions, anonymous, that's why I posted it - the Ein is such a shithole of intrigue, clans and snuffies, squalor, heavy weapons - it's hard to remember it's essentially a UN-run "refugee" city - oh wait, maybe it's not.
Posted by: Frank G   2003-05-20 09:26:35  

#2  actually this is quite mysterious - all evidence from the territories seems to indicate that Yasser still controls the fatah hard boys, and that he's in alliance with Hamas and IJ. Either trying to undermine Abu Mazen, or secretly in cahoots with Abu Mazen, if you believe Charles Johnson. In either case no reason for Yasser to take on islamists.

So whats happening in Lebanon - is fatah/hamas/IJ alliance united against AQ faction? Is Hamas/IJ staying neutral (despite larger strategic cooperation with Yasser- and as appears from their role as 'mediators") in Fatah vs AQ fight? Are Fatah hard boys in ein al hilweh not under Yassers control? Or is it purely local turf battles in ein al hilweh, no connection to larger Pal civil war?
Posted by: Anonymous   2003-05-20 09:19:31  

#1  This is sort of like a cricket match to Americans. Don't understand the rules, lots of scoring that doesn't seem to mean anything, and it lasts forever.
Posted by: Chuck   2003-05-20 09:06:36  

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