Lebanese soldier dies in Palestinian clash
BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 19 (UPI) -- A Lebanese soldier died of wounds from clashes with pro-Syria Palestinian gunmen in east Lebanon, bringing to the forefront the issue of Palestinian arms.
Military sources told United Press International that the 20-year-old conscript, who was gravely injured in the clashes between the army and the Damascus-based Fatah-Uprising, died Friday.
The clash on Wednesday occurred in the region of Yanta, near Lebanon's border with Syria, where Fatah-Uprising set up a military post which was later eliminated by the army.
The incident sparked condemnations by anti-Syria Lebanese politicians, who demanded the disarming of Palestinians outside the 12 refugee camps spread throughout Lebanon and to organize arms possession inside the shantytowns.
Disarming the Palestinians -- as well as Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah -- is stipulated by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, under which Syria was forced to quit Lebanon after almost three decades of military presence and political hegemony.
Similar clashes occurred in east Lebanon last year between the Lebanese army and pro-Syrian Palestinian gunmen belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, led by Damascus-based Ahmed Jibril, in which a topographer contracted by the army was killed.
Military sources told United Press International that the 20-year-old conscript, who was gravely injured in the clashes between the army and the Damascus-based Fatah-Uprising, died Friday.
The clash on Wednesday occurred in the region of Yanta, near Lebanon's border with Syria, where Fatah-Uprising set up a military post which was later eliminated by the army.
The incident sparked condemnations by anti-Syria Lebanese politicians, who demanded the disarming of Palestinians outside the 12 refugee camps spread throughout Lebanon and to organize arms possession inside the shantytowns.
Disarming the Palestinians -- as well as Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah -- is stipulated by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, under which Syria was forced to quit Lebanon after almost three decades of military presence and political hegemony.
Similar clashes occurred in east Lebanon last year between the Lebanese army and pro-Syrian Palestinian gunmen belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, led by Damascus-based Ahmed Jibril, in which a topographer contracted by the army was killed.
posted by Marko at 5/19/2006 09:09:00 AM
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