The Lebanese army was laying siege to a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, demanding the handover of a man accused of killing three of its intelligence agents before taking refuge with a militant Palestinian group inside.
The army, which sent reinforcements into the Sidon area 40 kilometers (south of Beirut and around the camp, called on camp leaders to seek out and surrender Badih Hamade, a Lebanese Shiite.
According to AFP, Palestinian sources said Friday, that Hamade was hiding in the Ain al Helweh camp with Sheikh Abdullah Shreidi, leader of a splinter group of the fundamentalist Usbat al-Ansar, which has many supporters in the camp and is branded as "terrorist" by the United States.
The popular committees, which include the camp's political and military leaders, issued a statement Friday ordering Shreidi to "hand over the author of the crime who is hiding with him ... otherwise a joint security force will go and winkle him out." The statement did not say how long Shreidi had been given.
Hamade, also known as Abu Obeida, is accused of killing Thursday three military intelligence agents who were watching him on the road between the Ain al Helweh and Mieh-Mieh refugee camps, east of Sidon.
He is also accused of being responsible for bomb attacks on military checkpoints around Ain al Helweh in the past few months. A Palestinian source said Hamade was wounded in the shoulder in an exchange of fire Thursday. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
