The Lebanese army announced on Tuesday it had arrested 10 men suspected of belonging to a “terrorist network” planning attacks against targets abroad and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
“Our investigation has shown that this network was planning to smuggle wanted terrorists out of Ain al-Helweh (refugee camp) ... smuggle Fatah al-Islam fighters into Ain al-Helweh, to carry out attacks from Lebanon on targets abroad and create terrorist cells to monitor UNIFIL and the army in order to carry out terrorist attacks on them,” an army statement said.
An army spokesman told AFP nine of those arrested came from Arab states, while no information was released on the tenth.
Ain al-Helwh, located near the southern town of Sidon, is the largest of 12 Palestinian refugee camps with 45,000 refugees.
Ariel Goldring
