Lebanon Asks U.S. for Help in Fight
CBNNews.com
May 22, 2007
CBNNews.com - Lebanon is asking for U.S. help in stomping out a three-day old uprising in a Palestinian refugee camp that has killed scores of people and has caused thousands flee.
The country is asking the United States for $280 million in military assistance to put down the uprising, the State Department said Tuesday.
Click play on the right to watch various footage of ongoing fighting and protesting in Lebonon.
A State Department spokesman said the U.S. is considering the request. If granted, about $220 million would go to the Lebanese Armed Forces and another $60 million to security forces. The assistance would represent a significant increase over previous years.
The White House, meanwhile, reaffirmed support for Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, saying that the terrorists want to disrupt the nation's security and distract international attention from an effort to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut.
Lebanese officials have accused Syria of using Fatah Islam - the al-Qaeda inspired group that rooted itself in the refugee camp - to destabilize the country. Syria controlled Lebanon for decades until growing pressure forced it to withdraw its troops after Hariri's assassination.
The U.S. "will not tolerate attempts by Syria, terrorist groups or any others to delay or derail Lebanon's efforts to solidify its sovereignty or seek justice in the Hariri case," White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said.
"Those committing violence and their sponsors seek to deny the people of Lebanon the democracy, peace and stability they deserve," he said.
A Pentagon spokeswoman said the Defense Department has also been working to deliver a equipment and other materials to Lebanon.
"We hope to provide a robust package of security assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces in 2007 with more equipment and training," Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Finn said.
She said the Pentagon is "concerned about mounting evidence that the Syrian and Iranian governments, Hezbollah, and their Lebanese allies are attempting to topple Lebanon's legitimate and democratically elected government led by Prime Minister Saniora."
Meanwhile, people fled from the besieged Palestinian refugee camp Tuesday night, waving white flags after three days of fighting between Lebanese troops and Islamic militants.
Earlier Tuesday, a relief convoy was hit as U.N. workers tried to deliver food and water to residents. Some who approached the convoy seeking supplies were wounded or killed, a U.N. official said.
There has been no sign the battle is nearing an end, as Saniora said the government was determined to uproot Fatah Islam.
Twenty-nine soldiers and at least 20 militants had been killed since the battle began Sunday in the heaviest internal fighting in Lebanon since the 1975-90 civil war. But the number of civilian casualties remained unknown because relief workers were not able to get inside the camp.
Angry Palestinians elsewhere in Lebanon burned tires to protest the military assault, raising the threat of wider unrest in the country's volatile refugee camps. Some 215,000 people live in the 11 camps, which are rife with armed groups and Islamic extremists.
Other reports from residents raised fears of a high civilian toll.
"There's been a massacre. I witnessed it. In one room alone there are 10 dead. Six shells fell on us, the bodies were cut to pieces," one man shouted as he and a few others managed to get out of the camp during the brief afternoon truce.
One university student was furious over the assault, saying Fatah Islam was just an excuse for the Lebanese army to strike.
"We were not afraid of death. But to die by the weapons of Arabs, this is what makes us angry," she said.
Source: Associated Press
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