Lebanon gears up for long haul

Nahr Al Bared: Lebanon is set for the long haul in a bid to end a standoff with militants holed up at a squalid refugee camp without further bloodshed, a senior government source said yesterday.

"The government has given Palestinian organisations the chance to resolve the problems with Fatah Al Islam without any time restraints," the senior source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Hundreds of heavily armed soldiers, backed by tanks, armoured personnel carriers and machinegun-mounted jeeps, surround the camp in which thousands of civilians are trapped without running water, with little food and no electricity.

After sporadic gunbattles overnight, dawn yesterday brought an uneasy calm between soldiers and fighters from the shadowy extremist group in the Nahr Al Bared camp in northern Lebanon.

Army action ruled out

A senior member of Leb-anon's governing coalition said military action was not on the table to end the standoff.

Druze leader Walid Junblatt demanded the handing over of the Fatah Al Islam militants.

"Nobody has proposed a military settlement. But we want the murderers handed over to Lebanese justice," Junblatt said.