NAHR AL BARED, Lebanon July 4th 2007 — Three Islamist fighters were killed as the Lebanese army repulsed an attack inside a Palestinian camp in northern Lebanon, security sources said Wednesday.
A correspondent at the scene, meanwhile, reported renewed exchanges of gunfire between the army and Fatah Al Islam fighters around Nahr Al Bared refugee camp, amid bursts of shells fired by the military.
The sources said that the bodies of three militants were evacuated by civil defense workers after the attack on the army late Tuesday in Nahr Al Bared, the scene of a six-week standoff between troops and Al Qaeda-inspired extremists.
"There was an infiltration attempt. The army fired back and the militants pulled back to positions deep inside the camp, as usual. They have no fixed posts," an army spokesman said, without confirming the casualties. Fatah Al Islam militants "tried to advance toward buildings near the fringes of the camp to fire at soldiers. The army opened up with artillery, forcing their retreat and silencing their snipers," he said. Fatah Al Islam, which had spokesmen contactable by mobile phone in the early stages of the battle, was again unreachable Wednesday. Their phone lines have apparently been cut off.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned anew of the deteriorating humanitarian situation inside the camp. An ICRC spokeswoman, Virginia de la Guardia, said that relief workers had not been able to deliver food and water supplies to the camp since June 20, with trapped residents running out of supplies. "Discussions are continuing with the army" for access, she said. The last food rations that entered the camp amounted to 760 kilograms (1,670 pounds), enough for just over 100 people for two weeks, said the delegate of the ICRC, which has been coordinating relief.
BEIRUT Daily star: A hotel owner called on all tourist establishments in Beirut to abide by a two day strike on Monday to protest the government’s negligence of the tourism sector. Amin Khayat, also president of the Tourist Institutions in Beirut, warned the strike is just the beginning. "We may resort to other means in the next 15 days if the government and the concerned parties refrained from assisting the tourism sector," Khayat told a press conference. "The government promised us to secure a special fund to help the tourism sector. But none of their promises were fulfilled." He said that hotels will stop receiving visitors for two days. 
BEIRUT – Former ministers who figure on a list of Syrian and Lebanese personalities banned from entering the United States said on Saturday they felt 
BEIRUT (AFP) – The UN force in south Lebanon expects a "summer of peace" for the region despite the menace of more attacks on peacekeepers, their commander said in an interview published on Thursday. But he also called for more to be done in clearing the region of weapons."We take seriously the possibility of other attacks. We hope the new security measures and the political process will manage to prevent them," said Major-General Claudio Graziano of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL).
By Nazih Siddiq, QALAMOUN, Lebanon (Reuters) – Lebanese soldiers killed six Islamist militants, most of them foreigners, during a clash on the outskirts of the northern town of Qalamoun early on Thursday, security sources said. A military source said the gunmen appeared to be linked to al Qaeda-inspired militants of 
By James Farha, Daily Star
BBC, Lebanese troops said they had largely defeated Islamist rebels in a northern refugee camp, but continued their siege amid sporadic shelling and gunfire. Officials said the gunfire came from mopping up operations, and explosions were booby traps being destroyed. Leaders of Fatah al-Islam at the Nahr al-Bared camp were on the run, Defence Minister Elias Murr said on Thursday. A month of fighting has left 170 people dead, in Lebanon’s worst internal violence since the 1975-90 civil war. Some correspondents said parts of the old camp – densely populated areas packed with long-term Palestinian refugees – were still outside the army’s control. The so-called new camp, where gunfire has been focused, is now a devastated wasteland of shattered concrete. Mr Murr had told Lebanese TV that the army had "crushed those terrorists". "What is happening now is some clean-up that the army’s heroes are carrying out, and dismantling some mines," he said
