Surrounded by an uncertain climate following recent bombings and the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Harriri, the Palestinian refugee community in Lebanon is feeling the pinch:
Pro-Syrian Palestinian group puts refugee camps on alert
29 September 2005
Daily StarBeirut -- BEIRUT, Lebanon: In an unprecedented move, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, based in Syria, Ahmad Jibril instructed all PFLP-GC officials in refugee camps in Lebanon to be on full alert and be ready for mobilization at any moment.
According to Lebanese security sources, Jibril said this measure was due to the fact that Lebanese authorities took security measures along the road extending from Yanta in the western Bekaa to the Baalbek-Homs road where they set up checkpoints at more than 25 illegal entry points along the border.
Sources said an emergency meeting was expected to be held at the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut between PFLP-GC representatives and representatives of Palestinian factions as The Daily Star went to press.
Lebanese security authorities warned all security and military personnel to stay away from the camps for "fear of friction or kidnappings," according to the source.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have come under increasingly heavy pressure since the issuing of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon. Security procedures were taken last month in the camps with checkpoints being placed at the entrance to the camps.
See our last post [1] on Lebanese politics.
