Lebanon camp takes census to keep Islamists out (AFP)
6 minutes ago
BADDAWI, Lebanon (AFP) - Palestinian officials are compiling a register of residents in a northern Lebanon refugee camp to crack down on Islamist militants and to prevent unrest, one of them said on Saturday.
"Rumours have spread concerning the presence of outlaws in Baddawi camp," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"As a result Palestinian faction leaders unanimously decided to bolster security measures in order to prevent the outlaws from using the camp," to settle scores, the official said.
The decision is also aimed at preventing in Baddawi the kind of outbreaks of violence which in recent months have ravaged Ain el-Helweh, the biggest of the 12 impoverished Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, the official said.
Extremists believed to have links with Al-Qaeda have settled in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps, especially in Ain el-Helweh.
Baddawi is near Nahr al-Bared camp where last summer more than 400 people, including 168 soldiers, were killed in a 15-week battle before the Lebanese army defeated Al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam militants holed up there.
Preventive security measures in Baddawi comprise "a comprehensive census of camp residents," the official said. According to the UN refugee agency Baddawi is home to more than 16,000 people.
"Any person other than permanent residents must fill in a form listing all personal data, the reason and the duration of their stay. Landlords must inform in writing of any new tenant, even Palestinians," he said.
Palestinian faction leaders "have informed the Lebanese security officials of the measures," he added.
"We will not allow anyone to transform the camp into a threat to Lebanon's security."
The Lebanese army does not enter the camps, leaving responsibility for security to Palestinian factions.
The clashes in Ain el-Helweh, in southern Lebanon, have pitted members of the mainstream Fatah faction against a Sunni Islamist militant group known as Jund al-Sham (Soldiers of Damascus).
