An Islamic militant wanted for killing three Lebanese army intelligence agents was handed over to the Lebanese army, a Palestinian sources said. They said Lebanese Islamic leaders had handed the militant, Badih Hamade, to Lebanese soldiers early Tuesday at the northern entrance of Ein Helwe camp, on the outskirts of the port city of Saida.
Earlier, a mediator said he struck an 11th-hour deal for the surrender of an Islamic militant wanted for killing three Lebanese army intelligence agents and holed up in this Palestinian refugee camp.
"After difficult negotiations, we have reached an agreement in principle to hand over the murderer to the concerned parties," Palestinian Islamic mediator Abu Sharif, spokesman for the group Usbat al-Ansar, told reporters.
Abu Sharif said he participated in long negotiations with Sheikh Abdullah Shreidi, leader of a rival group, Usbat al-Nur, which is alleged to be hiding the wanted militant in the Ain Helwe camp of southern Lebanon.
"We need some time" to organize the hand-over, he said after the talks in an Ain Helwe mosque. "We want to spare the camp from problems." Lebanese Interior Minister Elias Murr, meanwhile, warned: "There is no solution but to hand over the murderer. Otherwise, the army will gradually take harsh measures that could lead to closing all the camp's entrances."
Hamade, a Lebanese Shiite militant, is accused by the army of shooting dead three intelligence agents who were tailing him last Thursday and of a spate of bomb attacks on military checkpoints around Ain Helwe, AFP reported.
As tension ran high inside the camp, a small bomb exploded Monday without causing injuries or damage, a camp source said. The blast occurred on a road near an office of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the home of a member of Hamas, the source said. (Albawaba.com)
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