Palenstinian Refugees Flee Lebanon Camp Violence

About 15,000 people, half the population of Nahr al-Bared, have left the refugee camp in northern Lebanon after three days of tank and artillery shelling, a UN relief official said today.

Residents began leaving the camp overnight in cars and pick-up trucks, taking advantage of a lull in fighting between Islamist militants and the Lebanese army.

An official from the mainstream Palestinian faction, Fatah, said: "Thousands of refugees - men, women and children - started fleeing on foot or by car from Nahr al-Bared camp from early evening to take shelter in the nearby Beddawi camp."

"But we will certainly be quickly overwhelmed if the flow of refugees continues at this rate," Hajj Rifaat told the AFP news agency. "The problem will quickly become one of being able to provide extra food."

Rescue workers have been unable to enter the camp, which has been without water and electricity for days. It is unclear how many civilians may have been killed in the shelling. Residents said bodies were buried under the rubble of buildings.

In Tripoli, six miles from Nahr al-Bared, local residents were taking in refugees from the camp and housing them in schools.

Sultan Abul Aynayn, the head of Fatah in Lebanon, issued an urgent appeal for humanitarian organizations to help the camp's residents, saying they were "totally destitute".

At least 22 militants, 32 soldiers and 27 civilians have been killed in the fighting this week in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Despite a lull in the fighting, a military source told the Associated Press "the matter is not over. It will only end with the final end of this gang."

The Lebanese army started shelling Nahr al-Bared after fighters from Fatah al-Islam, a Sunni Muslim group based in the camp, ambushed Lebanese troops, killing 27 soldiers.

Although the faction is led by a Palestinian, the Lebanese authorities say they have arrested Saudi, Algerian, Tunisian and Lebanese members of the group.

The government had pledged to root out Fatah al-Islam, amid accusations from Lebanese officials that it is backed by Syrian intelligence. Syria denies any connection with the group, which has also been linked to al-Qaida.

The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, yesterday denounced "criminal attacks" against Lebanese troops and urged immediate access for aid to civilians.