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Lebanese army deploys air power at camp
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TRIPOLI, June 2nd  Lebanon – A missile-firing helicopter joined the Lebanese army offensive against al-Qaida-inspired militants on Saturday, the second day of a push against Islamic fighters vowing a fight to the death inside a Palestinian refugee camp. Army tanks shelled militant hideouts in the Nahr el-Bared camp by this northern port city, blasting upper floors of buildings where the militants placed snipers. A Lebanese air force helicopter fired two missiles and strafed militant positions in the first use of airpower since fighting began with the Fatah Islam group on May 20. The air attack was an apparent attempt to block an escape route to the Mediterranean Sea.Four soldiers were killed and 10 wounded Saturday in the offensive aimed at uprooting al-Qaida-inspired gunmen barricaded in the refugee camp.

The casualties raised the army’s deaths to 38 in two weeks. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants were killed by Friday, but casualties in the camp in the last two days were unknown because relief organizations were banned from entering.Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said about 250 members of Fatah Islam were still inside the camp. He promised Palestinians who fled Nahr el-Bared that they will be able to return and the camp will be rebuilt. The militants "have no choice but to surrender," Saniora told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television, adding that the government would "assure this group justice and a fair trial."There were signs that Palestinians trapped inside the camp were trying to squeeze the militants out.Abu Jaber, an official of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

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Lebanese army masses around camp
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By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer, TRIPOLI, Lebanon  June 1 – 2007- Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers moved toward a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon Friday in pursuit of Islamic militants holed up inside. The artillery bombardment sent white clouds rising above the Nahr el-Bared camp, where Fatah Islam militants have been hanging on in a 13-day siege by the Lebanese army. The shelling also ignited fires in the camp that spewed black smoke. The militants have barricaded themselves in residential neighborhoods of narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings.

It was unclear from reports on the ground whether the army had penetrated deep into the camp, or limited its advance to outer neighborhoods that militants had used to direct sniper fire at army positions. Nahr el-Bared, like the other 11 Palestinian camps in Lebanon, has been off limits to Lebanese authorities under a nearly 40-year-old agreement that stipulated Palestinians would run their own affairs. Two soldiers were slightly wounded in Friday’s fighting, according to officials at a local hospital.About 50 armored carriers, battle tanks and military vehicles from elite units massed at the northern edge of the camp and drove toward the forward-most positions, according to an AP Television News crew at the scene.

There was no confirmation that army units were making a final push to take over the camp or were just advancing to grab territory and isolate the militants. But a significant decrease in shelling accompanied by a rise in machine gun fire from armored carriers and exchanges of automatic rifle fire suggested the troops were already engaging the militants.

The bombardment intensified several hours later. Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. said troops were attempting to seize the main offices of Fatah Islam in the camp’s northeastern area. But Al-Arabiya television said troops seized militant sniper positions.

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