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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Lebanon charges 20 with terrorism |
| 2007-05-31 |
| Russian Foreign Minister suggests US is destabilizing situation A military judge filed terrorism charges against 20 suspected members of an Islamic militant group fighting Lebanese troops at a Palestinian refugee camp, court officials said. In Berlin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested the U.S. was destabilizing the situation in Lebanon by shipping weapons to the army for its fight against the militants — drawing a pointed rebuke from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The Lebanese military has been fighting Fatah Islam militants at the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon since May 20. The camp is ringed by hundreds of soldiers backed by artillery and tanks in place to storm the camp. Fatah Islam has claimed to have more than 500 fighters with automatic weapons, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades inside the camp. The Lebanese government has vowed to crush the militants. Fighting between the army and militants resumed shortly after sunset Wednesday at the camp on the outskirts of the port city of Tripoli. Army artillery blasted militant positions inside the camp to silence the source of fire. There was no immediate word on casualties. Several Fatah Islam suspects have been arrested in army raids on apartments in Tripoli in the past two weeks. It was not clear where the 20 militants were arrested. The 20 included 18 Lebanese, a nonnative Lebanese and a Syrian. All were charged with committing terrorist acts that resulted in the deaths of soldiers and civilians, the officials said. The charges against them also include forming a gang with the aim of committing crimes against the people and undermining state authority. All 20 are in custody and if convicted, they could face the death penalty. Sporadic gunfire exchanges have continued daily since a truce halted three days of heavy fighting. But renewed fighting that began before sundown Tuesday was the worst outbreak in violence in a week. Lebanese army artillery pounded positions on the northern edge of the camp and near the Mediterranean coastline, apparently to prevent militants from fleeing. Since the fighting began, 31 soldiers, 20 civilians and about 60 militants have been killed. Thousands of Palestinians have fled the camp but thousands more are still inside, along with hundreds of fighters. The U.S. has airlifted planeloads of military supplies to Beirut to support the Lebanese troops in their battle with the militants. Lavrov, speaking at a news conference of the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators in Berlin, was asked about the shipments and responded with a remark about "the necessity of avoiding weapons supplies that could destabilize the situation." Rice, sitting just to his right at the German Foreign Ministry, responded quickly that the U.S. was attempting to help rebuild the Lebanese army so it can defend the country against armed groups. "The rebuilding of the Lebanese army is envisioned in any number of international agreements ... and that is what we are doing," Rice said. "We are supporting the Lebanese army, which is an all-Lebanese institution. It's not a matter of interfering in Lebanese affairs, it's an effort to help Lebanon to defend its own sovereignty." |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #3 OP, you define subtle. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2007-05-31 19:47 |
| #2 I remember the United States converting several LSTs to provide rocket attacks on unfriendly beaches during WWII. I think it's time to revive the approach, only using more reliable rockets in larger numbers. Anchor one of these ships off the coast opposite each paleostain " |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-05-31 16:23 |
| #1 Fred Thompson should respond to Lavrov. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2007-05-31 11:26 |