Efforts Exerted to Implement Ain el-Hilweh Security Plan

The leaders of Palestinian factions at the southern refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh are holding meetings and coordinating with Lebanese officials to set the stage for a security plan in the shantytown, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.

The preparatory meetings are being held as Munir Maqdah was appointed the head of the joint security forces in Ain el-Hilweh, said the daily.

The talks among the different Palestinian factions also come in parallel with other meetings between Lebanese and Palestinian officials to set up the security plan, which was announced recently by Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq.

Al-Akhbar quoted sources as saying that the main target of the plan is the neighborhoods of al-Taamir and al-Taware in the camp where most wanted individuals are located.

They stressed that the Lebanese authorities will not target Ain el-Hilweh out of their keenness on its residents and to avoid a scenario similar to the northern camp of Nahr al-Bared, which was leveled in 2007 during battles between the army and al-Qaida-inspired group Fatah al-Islam.

Several wanted terrorists, including Shadi al-Mawlawi and Osama Mansour, are allegedly hiding in Ain el-Hilweh, which is located near the southern city of Sidon. But by long-standing convention the Lebanese army does not enter the camps, leaving security inside to the Palestinians themselves.

Al-Mashnouq has stressed that the state will not back down on its demand to be handed over all fugitives who are taking Ain el-Hilweh as their safe haven.

G.K.

H.K.