Nahr el-Bared Palestine refugee camp in North Lebanon

As a consultant currently working in Lebanon at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), I cover a number of issues relating to the recovery of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli in northern Lebanon.















Last week I accompanied the Austrian Ambassador and the head of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, Ambassador Makkawi to a visit of the destroyed camp. As I mentioned a few postings below, the camp was destroyed in the summer of 2007 by flighting between the Lebanese Army and a radical group, Fatah al-Islam.

We had to get permission from the Lebanese Army and UN security clearance to enter the camp.

This conflict saw the rise of Fatah al-Islam as a notable fighting force. The group was formed in July 2006 after the infighting among groups in Iraq to carry a specific agenda – the liberation of Palestine under the Al-Qaeda umbrella. Just two months before Al-Zarqawi was killed in Iraq in June 2006, Zarqawi released a major statement on Palestine and indicated that Al-Qaida was coming. It is known today that there is a blood link between Zarqawi and the man who became Emir of Fatah al-islam, Shaler al-Absi. Zarqawi was an uncle to Shaker al-Absi. Fatah al-Islam was formed with four distinctive cells in Lebanon, including one that operated inside Nahr al-Bared. They were training inside the camps and funnelling fighters in Palestine via way of Berlin and it is estimated that they managed to get over 500 fighters inside Gaza before an attack was instigated that resulted the siege of Nahr el-Bared. The siege of Nahr Al-Bared was a deliberate effort to stop this migration into Palestine.

Once we arrived in Tripoli, the two Ambassadors recieved a security briefing by UNRWA's security officer for North Lebanon.

Ambassador Makkawi was constantly surrounded by tight security.

The area adjacent to the camp is an area which was also affected by the conflict. Over the years, the camp residents spilled over into this area which legally falls under the jurisdiction of the Lebanese government as it is not included within the bounderies of the refugee camp. Palestine refugees bought and built houses there. At the moment, 2000 of approximately 5,500 families have now returned there, some living in rented accommodation, others in prefabricated houses.












At the time of the incident there were approximately 645 fighters inside Nahr Al-Bared. By its end several weeks later, an estimated 228 were dead and the rest managed to escape. Osbet Al-Ansar and Jundi El-Sham also provided support to Fatah al-Islam during the siege that lasted until September 2, 2007.Contrary to western news report, this was not the end of Fatah al-Islam. It is estimated that there are close to 7800 members that exist now in a loosely formed association underground in Lebanon.