Miyeh Miyeh Clashes Subside after Two Wounded

Heavy clashes erupted Thursday at the Miyeh Miyeh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon between the mainstream Fatah Movement and the Hizbullah-backed Islamist faction Ansarullah.

The sounds of shelling and gunfire were being heard across the city of Sidon, the National News Agency said.

The agency later reported that the fighting had subsided following Lebanese and Palestinian political contacts and meetings.

It also reported that two people had been injured -- a Fatah member and a civilian.

NNA said stray bullets from the clashes reached areas that neighbor the camp such as the town of Hlaliyeh east of Sidon, where one of the gunshots penetrated the glass facade of one of the houses without causing casualties.

The fighting also sparked panic among the region's residents, who have urged authorities to put an end to the recurrent clashes, the agency added.

MP Bahia Hariri of al-Mustaqbal Movement meanwhile had held a series of phone calls aimed at reaching “an instant ceasefire,” NNA said.

Hariri's contacts involved Fatah's most senior official in Lebanon Fathi Abu al-Ardat, Hamas' top official in Lebanon Ahmed Abdul Hadi, the chief of Lebanese military intelligence in the South Brig. Gen. Fawzi Hamadi, and the head of military intelligence in Sidon Brig. Gen. Mamdouh Saab.

The clashes between the two movements had first erupted on October 16, leaving several people dead.

Lebanese Army units had on Wednesday redeployed around the camp in order to “bring the security situation under control,” the army said in a statement.

An army force had deployed Tuesday at the camp's entrance before withdrawing abruptly for “logistic reasons,” the National News Agency said.