Lebanon arrests Palestinian officials

Two senior officials of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement are reported to have been arrested in southern Lebanon.

Khaled Aref and Khalef Shayeb were detained at the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp near the port city of Tyre, security sources said. They were on their way to visit Sultan Abul-Einein, Mr Arafat's top lieutenant in Lebanon.

Mr Aref, 47, is reported to be Mr Arafat's second-in-command in Lebanon and the head of Fatah in the largest refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh. Mr Shayeb, 29, commands Fatah in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Relations soured

Military courts have previously issued arms-related arrest warrants against the two men, who have long lived in Lebanon. However, it was not immediately clear whether the army was enforcing them or just questioning the men.

Observers in the capital Beirut say the military may have wanted to question the men about recent activities of Fatah, whose relations with the Lebanese Government have soured in recent weeks.

The government has boosted the number of troops around the camps, sparking demonstrations by the inhabitants of Ain al-Hilweh.

Bleak prospects

Residents claimed the military had created a blockade. But the military said it had only increased security on building materials entering the camps.

Some 360,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon's 12 camps, amid squalor and deprivation. Most have bleak prospects, as refugees are banned from 70 professions.

On Wednesday, reports from Beirut said the Palestinian Authority had asked the Arab League in Cairo to intervene over the unrest.

The Lebanese army has no presence in the camps - under the 1969 Cairo Accords, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation took charge of their security.

Rising strength of Fatah

Government troops, however, have been posted at the entrances to the camps since the end of Lebanon's civil war.

Correspondents say the government has recently been concerned by the rising strength of Mr Arafat's guerrilla supporters in Ain al-Hilweh, home to 75,000 Palestinians near the southern town of Sidon.

At the weekend, the Lebanese President Emile Lahoud indirectly called on Palestinian factions within the camps to give up their arms.

Palestinian groups have long struggled for domination of the camps, with rival factions jostling for position as the debate over the future status of the refugees draws closer.

Bargaining chip

Certain newspapers in Beirut have accused Mr Arafat of flooding Ain al-Hilweh with funds in a concerted effort to assume total control.

Correspondents say a crackdown on the Palestinians started after Fatah took control of the main camps in August.

Some of Mr Arafat's opponents fear he is planning to use his position in southern Lebanon as a bargaining chip to persuade Israel to accept the establishment of a Palestinian state in return for abandoning the right of refugees to return to the West Bank and Gaza.

A number of Palestinian officials in Lebanon are wanted but appear to be able to move freely around the country.