PLO Lebanon
Palestinians in Lebanon should be permitted to set up their own security force in refugee camps there to prevent the formation of armed gangs in the future, the top PLO official in Lebanon said Thursday. The official, Abbas Zaki, spoke after briefing Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on the fighting in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. In the camp, an al-Qaida-inspired group, Fatah Islam, has been fighting the Lebanese army since May 20.More than 400,000 Palestinians live in refugee camps in Lebanon, often in harsh conditions. Zaki told a news conference Thursday that the fighting in Nahr el-Bared is in its final stages. He said the Fatah Islam members are asking to be allowed to stay in the camp or to be given asylum in another country. But we say that they should go to court because no one will accept them, and we will not accept them in our refugee camps (in Lebanon), he said. They are not a political organization. They are just gangs. Zaki said the Palestine Liberation Organization is proposing setting up a Palestinian security force of 4,000 to 5,000 members in the refugee camps in Lebanon, to prevent the formation of extremist groups in the future.(13,22)
