Lebanese eye Palestinian posts

On a lonely wind-swept plateau high above Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, a commander in a militant Palestinian faction defiantly rejects disarming his men and dismantling the outposts scattered along the remote mountainous border with Syria.

"We have many posts in the Bekaa but we are not going to leave any of them because the Palestinian issue has not been resolved. Resistance is our right while our land is occupied by Israel," says the commander who identifies himself as Abu Abdullah.

The mountaintop position, some 3,000 feet above this village, is one of several in the Bekaa Valley manned by the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC).

Syria's withdrawal of its last troops from Lebanon a week ago has focused attention on a handful of previously unobtrusive Palestinian military posts.

Most Palestinians in Lebanon live in crowded refugee camps - some of which are heavily militarized. Although the refugee camps are ringed by Lebanese Army troops, they lie outside the jurisdiction of the Lebanese state.

Lebanese authorities are clearly reluctant to deploy troops in the heavily populated camps to forcefully disarm the Palestinians.

But the small isolated military outposts lying outside the official refugee camps are another matter. Many residents in Qussaya and elsewhere insist these positions be dismantled. Damascus withdrew its forces from Lebanon in compliance with United Nations Security Resolution 1559. That resolution also calls for the disbanding of all "Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias," a reference to the Hizbullah organization and armed Palestinian groups.

Although the debate over Hizbullah's military wing will probably top the political agenda following parliamentary elections next month, many Lebanese are uneasy at the lingering presence of armed Palestinians, especially the military posts like the one above Qussaya.

The outposts, some of which have been in Lebanon since the 1970s, are known today more for their heated anti-Israeli rhetoric than for actual cross-border attacks against Israelis.

Most Palestinians in Lebanon are confined to some 12 refugee camps. Although the camps are ringed by Lebanese Army troops, they lie outside the jurisdiction of the Lebanese state.

"I would love them to leave now but we can't get them to leave by force because we are too weak. We need the government to get rid of them," says Kheir, a resident of this Christian village who declined to give his full name.

The PFLP-GC outpost is spread over an undulating grassy plateau, reached by a steep winding dirt track. A swing gate blocks the entrance to the encampment. Wind-tattered and sun-faded Palestinian flags snap in the stiff breeze. Tracks criss-cross the area and huts and tents can be seen in the distance.

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