Lebanon declared the Nahr Al-Bared Camp fighting over, but renewed fighting, a bomb attack on UN troops and an army shoot-out with militants heralded a protracted battle, Lucy Fielder reports Late last week, Defence Minister Elias Al-Murr declared victory over Fatah Al-Islam militants holed up in the Palestinian camp of Nahr Al-Bared, north of Tripoli. But, he said, the siege would continue until the Sunni radicals gave themselves up. It was unclear what had prompted the statement, given that surrender was a sticking point in negotiations between Fatah Al-Islam and the army, mediated by Palestinian religious and political figures, and had yet to be achieved. Victory, the army later clarified, meant that it had seized Fatah Al-Islam's positions, headquarters and command centres in the "new camp" area on Nahr Al-Bared's outskirts. But those manning them had retreated into the southern part of the heavily fortified "old camp". Some observers say that the area is inhabited by approximately 2,000 civilians still left inside, out of the original population of 40,000. Amal Saad-Ghorayeb of the Carnegie Endowment's Beirut- based Middle East Centre, said the announcement appeared to reflect that the leadership "wanted a change of discourse" and to reassure the public, after five weeks of announcing daily "progress" and that the army was "advancing" into the camp, which some observers estimate measures one square kilometre. Within a day, fighting had resumed. A bitterly divided Lebanese society has maintained near- blanket support for the army, despite the unexpected lengthiness of the siege. As in most crises, this sentiment was expressed on billboards -- one of the most common showing the Lebanese flag, with the central cedar tree in camouflage colours. But it is unclear how long army casualties can continue to climb before more questions are asked. Lebanon's worst internal fighting since the civil war ended in 1990 has so far claimed the lives of at least 83 soldiers, 60 militants and 37 civilians. This may explain the need to give the public some good news, even if not borne out by events on the ground. Any long-suffering Lebanese who were buoyed by the fleeting victory received another blow on Saturday night, when a midnight army raid on a house in Tripoli sparked an all-night gunfight which killed 10 people, including a 10-year-old girl. The raid was instigated on information obtained from Fatah Al-Islam detainees, the army said. "This is an alarming development which shows that controlling Nahr Al-Bared Camp will not change anything, there are sleeping militant cells all over the country," said Hilal Khashan, professor of political science at the American University in Beirut. "Lebanon has become part of the battlefield for Al-Qaeda." Khashan said he believed the mainstream Palestinian Fatah movement was now fighting alongside the Lebanese army in the camp, indicating how the crisis might end. "I think the final chapter in the Nahr Al-Bared battle will see Fatah taking control of the old camp," he said. Nahr Al-Bared is considered by many observers to be one of the few camps outside the grip of either Fatah or Hamas. But Khashan expected a "protracted" siege before reaching that point. The impression Lebanon's battle with Al-Qaeda-inspired militants had barely started was strengthened when a bomb killed six peacekeepers from the United Nations force in the south on Sunday. Fatah Al-Islam leaders had threatened to attack UNIFIL, and Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Al-Zawahri called for such attacks last year. The local media reported that Fatah Al-Islam captives confessed to plans of attacking UNIFIL. But this was the first attack since the force expanded with a strengthened mandate after last summer's war between Israel and Hizbullah. Hizbullah immediately condemned the attack that took place between the southern towns of Marjayoun and Khiam. There have been few tensions between the guerrillas and UNIFIL, with Hizbullah keeping a low-key presence since the war ended last August. Most analysts believe that an Al-Qaeda-type group is most likely behind the attack, although unusually, there has been no claim of responsibility so far. The anti-Syrian government of Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora points the finger at Damascus, accusing it of backing the perpetrators, even if they are also Al-Qaeda. "The reasoning behind the attacks is to show that when Hizbullah controlled the south, this didn't happen," Saad- Ghorayeb said. She said the targeting of a powerful European contingent of the force and the firing of four rockets from southern Lebanon at northern Israel last week, one of which misfired, both aimed to destabilise the south. UNIFIL has patrolled and monitored southern Lebanon since 1978, but the force was beefed up after last summer's war with Israel. In recent weeks there has been growing talk about expanding the force's mandate to police the border with Syria, which Damascus and its allies in Lebanon vehemently reject. The United Nations as a whole is seen as increasingly embroiled in Lebanon, and critics accuse it of adopting the anti- Syrian side. An international tribunal into Rafik Al-Hariri's killing, ratified under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, came into force on 10 June. The world body regularly declares its backing for the government. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Israeli concerns about the force's mandate after the Katyushas landed in Israel. The Israeli media has also written of Hizbullah building fortified bunkers south of the Litani, under the nose of the UN peacekeepers. If Israel had hopes the force would disarm Hizbullah's guerrillas, they were frustrated. Haaretz quoted a senior northern Israeli commander as saying the rockets proved Israeli complaints about weapons entering south Lebanon were justified. "I hope that UNIFIL will fulfil its mandate in South Lebanon and that the Lebanese Army will take responsibility for what happens in its territory," he said. Hizbullah denied responsibility and the Israeli army said it believed a Palestinian group launched the Katyushas. Nahr Al-Bared and a string of bomb attacks in and around Beirut have overshadowed a long-running, bitter political crisis between the ruling "14 March" movement and opponents led by Hizbullah and Christian leader Michel Aoun, who demand a national unity government. Arab League Secretary- General Amr Moussa left Beirut empty-handed earlier this month after attempting to initiate a dialogue. Al-Siniora flew to Paris this week to meet US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-Moon, but it is unlikely there are any new initiatives in the offing.
