BEIRUT, Lebanon, June 5 (UPI) -- The Palestinian Fatah movement in Lebanon is assuming a leading role in trying to defuse the ongoing battles between Islamic militants and the army.
A Fatah leader told United Press International Tuesday that eight members of the extremist militant Fatah al-Islam group "surrendered" to the mainstream Fatah movement in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp near the northern port city of Tripoli.
The leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said that two senior commanders from the same group are ready to surrender along with a number of others, but with guarantees, which he did not specify.
He added that around a dozen Fatah al-Islam fighters, who have been battling the army since May 20 in and around Nahr al-Bared camp, have escaped the fighting, leaving their weapons behind.
The fighting has reportedly killed 44 Lebanese soldiers and 60 militants, in addition to a number of Palestinian refugee civilians, whose casualty toll is yet unknown in the virtually besieged camp, where 23,000 people have fled and some 5,000 others remain.
Meanwhile, as the Lebanese army said they have advanced toward the militants' positions on the perimeters of Nahr al-Bared, security sources said two Israeli war jets flew Tuesday above northern Lebanon and al-Beddawi refugee camp, where most of the Nahr al-Bared refugees had fled in recent weeks.
