Thousands mourn a Palestinian general, among 9 killed in sectarian clashes at a Lebanon refugee camp
Associated PressSIDON, Lebanon — Thousands of mourners gathered in south Lebanon on Monday for the funeral of a Palestinian military general with the Fatah group, whose killing in a refugee camp in Lebanon fueled fierce sectarian street battles that have killed at least nine people. Three days of clashes between Palestinian factions at the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp have pitted members of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party against Islamist groups accused of gunning down the general, Abu Ashraf al Armoushi, on Sunday. On Monday afternoon, after a meeting between Lebanese officials and security forces and Palestinian factions, Lebanese lawmaker Osama Saad, who represents the Sidon area where the camp is located, announced a new ceasefire agreement. Lawmaker Samy Gemayel, head of the Kataeb party, which during the Lebanese civil war allied with Israel against the Palestinian Liberation Organization, met with US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea on Monday and called for “the disarmament of the camps and placing them in the custody of the Lebanese army,” the state-run National News Agency reported.