Lebanon on Monday charged more than 200 people suspected of belonging to the Fatah al-Islam militia with murder and terrorism, a judicial source told AFP. Prosecutor general Said Mirza filed the charges against 227 militants, 108 of whom have been arrested since May 20, when a stand-off between the army and Fatah al-Islam began at a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the country.
The charge sheet accuses the militants of murdering Lebanese troops, including 11 officers and 120 soldiers. It also accuses Fatah al-Islam of carrying out terrorist acts, undermining the state's authority and attacking its military and security institutions as well as attacking Lebanese troops and civilians.
Among those charged in absentia was the head of Fatah al-Islam, Shaker al-Abssi, whose whereabouts are unknown. The defendants face the death penalty if convicted of terrorism charges.
Fatave been engaged in fierce fighting with the Lebanese army since May 20 in the country's worst internal violence since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. Most of Nahr al-Bared's 31,000 refugee-residents fled at the start of the fighting, with just the wives and children of the Islamists remaining - a total of about 100 who the army says are being used as "human shields" by those holding out.
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