Evacuation of militants' relatives from volatile refugee camp

(24 Aug 2007) SHOTLIST 1. Entrance of the camp 2. ICRC cars outside the camp 3. ICRC logo on the vehicle 4. ICRC and Palestinian Red Crescent volunteers outside the camp 5. Lebanese army convoy of buses with evacuees driving along the road 6. Driving by shot of the convoy of buses with evacuees from Nahr el Bared 7. Clergymen from the Palestinian Scholar Association on the street outside the camp 8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sheik Mohammed al-Haj of the Palestinian Scholars' Assosiation "At 1450, the ceasfire took place and exactly at 1500, the evacuation of the relatives and the children started from the inside of the camp to the designated location. There were some Lebanese army female soldiers waiting for them to move them outside the camp. The operation went smoothly and safely." 9. Palestinian Red Crescent convoy with the volunteers moving 10. Various of shelling of camp after the relatives were evacuated 11. Lebanese army APC coming out of the camp STORYLINE Relatives of Islamic fighters holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon began leaving the besieged area on Friday, a Muslim clergyman mediating between the militants and the army said. The civilians - mostly women and children - boarded buses inside the Nahr el-Bared camp to be taken for interrogation, according to Sheik Mohammed al-Haj of the Palestinian Scholars' Association. An official with the Palestinian Scholars' Association, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the operation, said the army received the civilians in an area inside the camp under the army's control. The women and children were given food and water before boarding army buses that would take them outside the camp for interrogation, the official added. Witnesses near the Nahr el-Bared camp said the army seemed to halt its bombardment as of Friday morning to allow for the evacuation. However, images filmed by a AP Television crew showed shelling resumed not long after the relatives left. The evacuation followed a deal that was reached with Fatah Islam fighters inside the camp to allow their families to leave the settlement. Al-Haj said he was contacted on Friday by a Fatah Islam spokesman, requesting his mediation with the Lebanese army command for a truce to allow the remaining civilians to leave the refugee camp. He said a total of 63 people, including 22 women and 41 children, were expected to be among the evacuees on Friday. Some media reports said the civilians were believed to include the wife of Fatah Islam leader Shaker Youssef al-Absi and the widow of his deputy, Abu Hureira, who was killed by security troops outside the camp earlier this month. The Association has been mediating between the militants and the army since fighting broke out in the camp on May 20. For weeks, the army had been calling on the remaining civilians in the camp to leave, clearing the way for a final military assault to eradicate the remaining Fatah Islam fighters there. In the last two weeks, the Lebanese army augmented its months-old artillery bombardment of the camp with massive 400 kilogramme (880 pound) bombs dropped from helicopters, which may have prompted the fighters to ask for the truce. The camp's more than 30-thousand civilian residents fled in the first weeks of the fighting and the army estimates only 70 Fatah Islam fighters remain, down from 360 when the fighting began. The army has refused to halt its offensive until the militants completely surrender, while, until now, the Islamists have vowed to fight to the death. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...