Beirut - A clash between rival Palestinian groups that erupted at a refugee camp near Beirut International Airport Friday, ended after three Palestinians were wounded, Palestinian sources said. Members of the mainstream Fatah movement exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen loyal to the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) at the Burj al- Barajneh camp.
Sources inside the camp said the clashes between families affiliated to the two factions subsided after high-level contacts took place between representatives of the Palestinian factions.
Three Palestinians were injured in the clash, a source said.
The clashes at Burj al-Barajneh, which is located on the outskirts of Beirut's southern suburbs, a hotbed of Hezbollah, caused panic in the area near the airport.
It also prompted civilians inside the camp to flee on foot, fearing that the battles would escalate.
In the meantime, tensions rose at the Ain el-Hilweh camp, located east of the southern port city of Sidon.
Fatah loyalists burned tyres at the entrance of camp to block a march called for by Syrian-backed factions, witnesses said.
Around 400,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon, half of them spread o over 12 refugee camps, which are outside the control of Lebanese authorities.
Tension has risen at these camps, especially after Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in fighting with Fatah in June and clashes between the Lebanese army and Islamist militants at the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon in May.
More than 350 people died in 15 weeks of battles betweenal- Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam militants and Lebanese troops at the Nahr al-Bared.
"The Palestinian people in the refugee camps of Beirut and across all factions do not seek to create another confrontation with their neighbours akin to Nahr al-Bared," Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) secretary Khaled Aref said.
Aref said the inhabitants of Palestinian camps such as Burj al- Barajneh, Sabra and Shatila would take a stand against any threat to inter-Palestinian and Palestinian-Lebanese harmony and coexistence.
"The people in this campwill do their best to prevent any inter-Palestinian fighting," he noted.
"Our committee is working to keep the situation calm and stable," Aref added.
"Even if we are fired on, to protect our people and their homes, we will not respond, we will not be dragged into any Palestinian- Lebanese strife, especially in this delicate period," Aref said.
He said the PLO has asked for the formation of a committee made up of Fatah and the PFLP-GC.
"Fatah will not allow a repeat of the Nahr al-Bared experience, nor allow the emergence of a new Shaker al-Abssi or any other similar group. Our people paid a heavy price in Nahr al-Bared and they still are," Aref said.
