Militants stir in Lebanese outposts
UN officials say that militants in 16 remote Palestinian outposts are adding guns and recruits to stir more trouble for the American-backed government.
from the July 11, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Palestinian fighters on edge
At one outpost manned by the PFLP-GC just outside Naameh, tensions are running high.
The entrance to the compound, which consists of tunnels dug into the hillside beneath a war-damaged and long-abandoned factory, has been reinforced with new barricades and additional fighters. The approach is guarded by 15 heavily armed gunmen, some with faces hidden by checkered head scarves.
The gray-haired commander, Abu Amine, wears an old US Army uniform in desert camouflage and flip-flops. He says that the PFLP-GC and other allied groups need to protect themselves against the US and Israel. "The Americans and Zionists want us as slaves for their projects and to destroy our jihadist vision of defeating the Zionists," he says.
Abu Amine, who says he has fought with Palestinian groups since 1965, adds that the PFLP-GC's weapons are for defending Palestinians in the refugee camps. "The minute the Lebanese government gives us our rights to live an honest and honorable life in this country, we will hand over our weapons to the Lebanese Army," he says.
Outposts like this have existed since the early 1970s under Syrian protection until Damascus disengaged from its tiny neighbor in April 2005. Most of the bases are linked to Syria by a maze of unguarded trails that snake across the mountains.
Eighteen months ago, the Lebanese Army tightened its grip around the bases – five belonging to the PFLP-GC, 10 to Fatah Intifada, and one to As-Saiqa – setting up checkpoints and new positions to monitor movement.
The hilly area between Yanta and Deir al-Ashayer villages in southeast Lebanon – home to several Fatah Intifada outposts – has been declared a military zone by the Lebanese Army and cut off to all but local residents. Lebanon's daily Al-Mustaqbal reported last week that Syrian troops had penetrated two miles into Lebanon near Halwa, an area where the joint border is disputed, and were building fortifications, adding to the tensions in the area.
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