By Xinhua
Beirut : A total of 63 civilians, wives and children of Fatah al-Islam militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp, were released by the Lebanese army after questioning them following their evacuation, local Naharnet news website reported on Saturday.
The evacuation of Fatah al-Islam militants’ families began on Friday afternoon. The army announced a ceasefire to ensure the evacuation within a specific time frame.
The evacuated family members, including 25 women and 38 children, had left the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, said the report.
Some of the women and children went to two other Palestinian refugee camps — Beddawi, which is close to the northern city of Tripoli, and Ain al-Helweh in southern Lebanon, it added.
About 25 or 30 of them, who are Syrian or Syrian-Palestinian, headed for Syria, said the report, adding that among them are the wife and children of Fatah al-Islam leader Shaker al-Abssi.
Fatah al-Islam militants and their families have been hidden in Nahr al-Bared camp for more than three months since the battle with Lebanese army began on May 20.
On Tuesday, Fatah al-Islam’s spokesman Abu Salim Taha contacted Sheikh Mohammad al-Hajj, a member of the League of Palestinian Clerics, requesting him act as a mediator with the army to facilitate a truce, thereby allowing civilians to leave.
The camp has been almost totally destroyed by intense tank, artillery and helicopter fire from the army, which is trying to force the Fatah al-Islam group to surrender.
Most of the 40,000 residents in the camp fled to a nearby Palestinian refugee camp in the first days of fighting.
The battle has been going on since May 20 when Fatah al-Islam militants attacked Lebanese troops in north Lebanon. This bloodiest internal violence since the Lebanese 1975-1990 civil war has killed more than 200 people.
The Lebanese government lists Fatah al-Islam as a terrorist network aimed at destabilizing Lebanon.