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End to Nahr Al-Bared battles imminent -- PLO official

RAMALLAH, June 7 (KUNA) -- The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) representative in Lebanon Abbas Zaki has expected and end soon to the battles by the Lebanese military against the Fatah Al-Islam militants in the Palestinian camp of Naher Al-Bared north of Lebanon.
"The Nahr Al-Bared battle provoked by the Shaker Al-Absi's gang (Fatah Al-Islam) is coming to an end," Zaki told reporters in Ramalaah on Thursday. He urged the Fatah Al-Islam elements to give in to the Lebanese judiciary to receive a just trial.
He added that the remaining members of the group asked to be allowed to leave the camp or to be abandoned inside, but "neither of the two requests is acceptable since they have become rotten goods that won't be allowed to be left after all the crimes they committed." The PLO official noted that Fatah Al-Islam was trying to shift the battle from the North Lebanese camp to the southern refugee camp of Ain Al-Helwa in a bid to undermine the Palestinian-Lebanese relations but they failed after killing two people from Fatah and other two from the Lebanese military "the national army that supports resistance and that will remain a symbol of Lebanon's unity and security." He underlined the fact that Palestinians in Lebanon were not "a rifle for hire" and that the "new Palestinian-Lebanese relations reject returning to the black squares that the Fatah Al-Islam gang is trying to drag them to." All the Palestinian factions reject the phenomenon of Al-Absi's gang and crimes," Zaki, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, said.
Abbas returned to the Palestinian territories to take part in the meetings of the Fatah Committee and Revolutionary Council.
He noted that he and the Palestinian Authority chief, Mahmoud Abbas had discussed the situation in Nahr Al-Bared and how to care for the Palestinian families that fled the battles there.
According to him, most of the Fatah Al-Islam members are not Palestinians.
"This is what was demonstrated by the vehicle blast carried out by Al-Absi's gang in the Lebanese village of Ain Alaq. It was found out that the group's members arrested over the explosion were not Palestinians." (end) gs.msa KUNA 071556 Jun 07NNNN