Fatah Al-Islam Style “Conflicts With Al-Qa’Idah”, Says PLO Official in Lebanon

Doha Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel Television in Arabic at 1330 gmt on 21 May carries live a 20-minute interview with PLO representative in Lebanon Abbas Zaki, via satellite from Beirut, on the “Midday Guest” feature, moderated by Layla al-Shayib and Al- Habib al-Ghuraybi.

Asked what has happened to the recent cease-fire agreement in which he was a party, Zaki says: “We held a meeting with Prime Minister Fu’ad Sanyurah this morning and proposed a truce to enable the Nahr al-Barid refugee camp to evacuate the wounded and to bury the dead. Sanyurah said a cease-fire agreement could be reached in coordination between Palestinian factions and the Lebanese Army to allow the concerned parties to dispatch medicine and relief aid to the camp and evacuate about 75 wounded people facing tragic circumstances. We also met with Richard Cook of the United Nations Works and Relief Agency at 1100 today. Cook is preparing to dispatch relief aid to the camp and asked hospitals to receive people suffering from critical injuries. Finally, we met with Shaykh Sa’d al-Hariri, who agreed to dispatch more than 30 trucks of relief aid to the refugee camp as soon as a cease-fire agreement is reached.”

The Lebanese Army “complied with the cease-fire agreement,” Zaki says, adding that “the cease-fire agreement needs two parties” and that “it was the armed men who started opening fire.” As a result, Prime Minister Siniora’s office contacted us “to discuss ways to cease fire so that ambulances and relief supply can be dispatched to the refugee camp,” Zaki says, adding that “we will hold further meetings to find a way to prevent the armed men from using innocent Palestinians as human shields.”

Asked why the clashes have resumed, Zaki says that “Fatah al- Islam group wants to be apart in any cease-fire agreement so that it can enjoy some legitimacy, especially after its crime against the Lebanese Army.” He also says that “I do not believe that the Lebanese Army will conclude an agreement with killers, who are using this refugee camp as a cover for their crime against the army, the symbol of Lebanon’s unity.”

Asked if the problem could be solved through military force or political means, Zaki stresses the need “to carefully study the camp’s needs, as well as ways to protect innocent people who are suffering from the current disaster.” He also says: “we, as well as the Lebanese officials, have concluded that Palestinians in Lebanon should not be asked to pay the price of the faults of this crazy group, which has a non-Palestinian agenda, which has fallen on this camp like a thunderbolt, and which taints the image of Palestinian resistance, the Fatah Movement, and the Palestinian people.”

Condemning the group’s “aggression against the army, which is expected to protect the Palestinian refugee camps from any future repercussions,” Zaki says that “the group hides behind children in the Nahr al-Barid refugee camp wile alleging that it has come to extend support to Sunnis.” He also says that “this is tantamount to interference in Lebanon’s domestic affairs in the name of Palestine,” wondering why the group does not use another name and why it uses the camp as a shield [words indistinct]. Therefore, he also says, “we, in Lebanon, suffer from clashes and the use of homes to open fire and force the army to retaliate.”

Asked if the deteriorating human situation in the camps and foreign interference are behind the current clashes, Zaki says that “Palestinians in Lebanon have paid a high price as a result of false slogans and bitter experiments,” that “the camps are besieged,” that “Palestinians are viewed as postponed human beings and guest in the country.” Zaki says: “Palestinians are neither a party in Lebanese problems nor a heavy burden in the country, although some say that Palestinians are used as a dagger against peace in Lebanon. Camps are also used by outlaws [words indistinct].”

On whether the failure to close the files of the Fatah al-Islam group and the other Palestinian organizations in the Palestinian refugee camps has resulted in the current clash, Zaki says that “this group has exploited the recent Lebanon war and the conflict among the Lebanese brothers.” Zaki also says that “these files were postponed to block plans to trigger the fire of sedition in Lebanon,” that “Palestinians are not to blame for the current phenomenon,” and that “we want this phenomenon to come to a close without harming innocent people in Nahr al-Barid refugee camp and the other Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.” He also condemns “those trying to create difficult circumstances for the Palestinians and Lebanese.”

Asked if the Palestinians “are required to play a more effective role in resolving the current crisis between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam group,” Zaki says that “there are no Palestinians among the killed elements of the group.”

Moderator Al-Shayib notes that a short while ago, the spokesman for the Fatah al-Islam group told me that “the group has come here to support the Palestine question and to liberate Jerusalem in its own way.”

In response, Zaki says: “The Nahr al-Barid refugee camp, the city of Tripoli, or the southern region cannot be a road to Jerusalem, and those seeking to liberate Jerusalem should take into account the principles of the Palestinian people. Plunging the Palestinians into a war in Lebanon and igniting wars here and there will not serve the Palestine question.”

On whether the Fatah al-Islam is a fundamentalist movement with an Islamic discourse or asked to play a role in the Lebanese internal crisis, Zaki says that “this movement’s mode of action conflicts with that of Al-Qa’idah or intelligence services.” He also says that “the group, which has split from Fatah-the Intifadah, commits crimes and tries to destabilize this country and to blackmail the world.” He wonders “why the group has chosen its current name,” saying that “the group is not Palestinian and does not seek to liberate Palestine or support the Palestinian people.”

Asked if certain major movements are behind the Fatah al-Islam group, Zaki says that “the military option is not enough to solve the problem,” urging the group “to reconsider its presence in that miserable camp, its cheap actions, and its aggression on the Lebanese Army.” He also accuses the group of “having come to Lebanon to damage security in this country under the current sensitive circumstances.” Therefore, he says, “we are cooperating with Lebanese legitimacy and the Lebanese Army to block plans to kill Palestinians or taint their image in the country,” warning that “this reckless behaviour of the group threatens the entire region.” He also urges the group “to reconsider its stand” and says that “the current events in the camp are useless.”

Asked if the Cairo agreement banning the Lebanese Army from entering the Palestinian camps is expected to be violated, Zaki says that “the agreement is a mercy for the camps’ residents.” He also says that “it is not easy to search for a needle in a pile of hay” and that “this is not a war between two camps, but between an army and a ghost,” urging all parties “to study the situation carefully and to spare Palestinians in Lebanon new disasters.”

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.