GAZA, May 20 (KUNA) -- The Fatah Movement, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday said it had nothing to do with a group which was clashing with the Lebanese army in north Lebanon and calling itself Fatah Al-Islam.
The Fatah Movement, in a statement issued by the Fatah Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) faction, said the Fatah Al-Islam group had "no link to the Fatah Movement, does not belong to the PLO." The statement recalled that the official representative of the Fatah Movement in Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, had made that clear to Lebanese authorities and told them that "this extremist group has nothing to do with the Palestinian arena and does not abide by the Palestinian agenda." Members of this group have used violence against residents of the Palestinian refugee camps of Nahr Al-Bared and Beddawi in northern Lebanon, the statement added.
It expressed support to Lebanon's sovereignty and national unity and rejected outside attempts to interfere in its (Lebanon's) internal affairs.
Clashes, which still intermittent between Fatah Al-Islam and Lebanese law and order forces, had left casualties on both sides and crippled several areas in Lebanon, specifically the northern port city of Tripoli.(end) zt.eh KUNA 201641 May 07NNNN