Army Tightens Noose around Fatah Islam Militants amid Reports Awad Refuses to Surrender
Lebanese troops have tightened the noose around the remaining Fatah al-Islam militants and other persons wanted in terror-related cases amid reports that both the Lebanese and Palestinian sides were trying to avoid a deadly showdown at the sprawling Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp.
The daily Asharq al-Awsat reported Thursday that Fatah al-Islam”s new leader Abdul Rahman Awad is secretly moving around Ain el-Hilweh, accompanied by his aides, and refusing to surrender.
It quoted Palestinian sources as saying that arresting Awad alive would be a difficult task amid reports he sleeps with an explosive belt around his waist.
The sources quoted those negotiating Awad”s handover as saying that the new Fatah al-Islam leader refuses to surrender to "disbelievers" and that he prefers to be killed.
As-Safir newspaper, for its part, quoted Quds Imam Sheikh Maher Hammoud as vowing to settle Awad”s case and that of other persons wanted by the Lebanese army "such as it safeguards the dignity of the Lebanese state as well as the camp”s security."
Hammoud said he has conveyed a message to Awad, asking him to turn himself in to Lebanese judicial authorities "where there is a change of getting punishment reduction."
Hammoud, however, was skeptical of the surrender, stressing the need to hold a one-on-one meeting with Awad in an effort to convince him to turn himself in "through a dialogue with a scholar," a reference to the camp”s sheikh.
As-Safir said the Lebanese army was moving in two parallel directions: The first is to give mediators a chance to talk Awad into surrendering without violence. The second is an army intelligence task to track down Awad”s activities by strictly monitoring passages.