Army given free hand to storm hideout

Nahr Al Bared: The Lebanese army has been given 'carte blanche' to storm an Islamist militant hideout in the north of the country, after receiving new equipment on Friday from the United States.

The supplies, consisting of bombs, bullets and body armour, is also believed to include night vision equipment, which could prove crucial in the widely expected battle for the Palestinian refugee camp.

Hundreds of Al Qaida sympathisers, calling themselves Fatah Al Islam, have been besieged in the camp, 60 miles north of Beirut, since Sunday by the poorly equipped Lebanese army.

"The army has carte blanche to go in and finish Fatah Al Islam," said Ahmad Fatfat, a senior Lebanese cabinet minister on Friday.

The comments came as a separate extremist group calling itself Al Qaida in the Levant promised to start a campaign of bombings unless the Lebanese army withdrew from around the camp.

"No crusader will be safe in Lebanon after today. As you hit you will be hit. If you do not stop we will wrench out your hearts with... bombs," the group said in a statement.

United Nations agencies estimate that up to 20,000 of the sprawling camp's 40,000 population remain inside, either unwilling, unable or too scared to leave.

"To attack the camp is very difficult," said Fatfat, who comes from one of northern Lebanon's biggest families. "With its narrow alleys and dense population it is perfect for guerrilla warfare. So we want the civilians to leave, but if they don't leave we will have to go in anyway," he said.

Night vision equipment

He said that the Lebanese army had asked for night vision equipment, which could allow its special army units to raid the camp under cover of darkness rather than resort to heavy weaponry and risk major civilian casualties.

Many fear that a civilian bloodbath could prompt uprisings in Lebanon's other refugee camps. But an army success could have a very positive effect.

In recent times the Lebanese army has been seen as largely pro-Christian. But in its current battle with Fatah Al Islam it has received widespread, multi-faith support within Lebanon, as well as the crucial support of other Arab nations - who also flew in material to Beirut on Friday.

"The army has always been seen as a tool of Christian power in Lebanon," said Fatfat, a Sunni Muslim with close ties to Rafik Hariri, the assassinated former prime minister.

"But this time it has got national support from Muslims too. That's unprecedented."

A major success for the Lebanese army could also help undermine Hezbollah, which has long portrayed itself as the only military force in Lebanon strong enough to defend the country from its enemies.

That helps to explain why America is now supplying the Lebanese army less than 12 months after it sent bombs to Israel for use in air raids against Lebanon.

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