Daily Archives: September 2, 2007

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Jubilation In Tripoli As Standoff in Naher Al Bared Ends

A late victory is still a victory, a sweet one for that matter.

I just got off from the phone with my family in Tripoli. They told me that celebratory fireworks and gunshots are mixing with car horn blowing everywhere in the ecstatic northern city. People are calling each other for congratulations and everyone is celebrating the hoped for return to normalcy.

The news is spreading: According to Africasia:

Thousands of people on Sunday thronged toward a refugee camp in northern Lebanon chanting patriotic songs and throwing rice to mark the end of a standoff between the army and militants.Convoys of cars and pick-up trucks, some with people sitting on the rooftops, packed a highway that runs near Nahr al-Bared camp, honking their horns and flashing victory signs.

Finally, the nightmare is over..

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Aljazeera: Shaker Al Absi Escaped From Camp (Update: Killed)

Most of the coverage on the Naher Al Bared security situation this morning -where Fateh Al Islam attempted a last-ditch effort to escape at dawn- centered on the captured and killed elements from the terrorist group.

Aljazeera however, quotes a “Lebanese Army Source” who says that Shaker al Absi, the leader of the group, managed to flee the camp.

If that is true, an investigation must take place to know why and how this happened.

Update: According to Alarabiya who quoted a Lebanese army officer, Absi was killed in Sunday’s battles and his body was identified in a Tripoli hospital.

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An Israeli Newspaper Trying To Explain Lebanon's Situation To Its Readers

Here’s a feature article on Lebanon, from the Israeli daily Haaretz that tries to answer the following question:

“How did it come about that little, insignificant Lebanon, a country irrelevant to peace in the Middle East, has become the focus of interest among world leaders, from George Bush to Nicolas Sarkozy, and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to Bashar Assad and Iran’s Ahmadinejad?”