BeirutTimes : THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE LEBANESE AND THE ARAB AMERICANS IN THE UNITED

Olmert released a statement on Wednesday announcing that Israel wants peace, not war, with Syria and that Israeli officials have communicated this message to Damascus through diplomatic channels. Separately, in a commentary published in Britain's The Guardian on Wednesday, Olmert expressed interest in achieving peace with the Palestinians on the basis of the Arab initiative, while insisting that "talks must be a discussion, not an ultimatum."

There were no new reports of casualties on Wednesday, keeping the official death toll at 114 people, including 46 soldiers and 38 militants, since fighting broke out on May 20. While an army source would not confirm any new troop injuries, medical sources said at least three wounded soldiers were taken to nearby hospitals on Wednesday.

"Our attacks have lessened and are now more targeted, since we have destroyed most of Fatah al-Islam's positions," the army source told The Daily Star on Wednesday. "The militants have decreased their resistance."

Despite the army's reports of success, a senior member of Fatah al-Islam warned the group was ready to expand its attacks beyond Lebanon.

"If the army continues to bomb civilians and pursue its inhumane practices ... we will move within the next two days to the second phase of the battle," Fatah al-Islam military commander Shahin Shahin told Reuters by telephone from the Nahr al-Bared camp.

"We will show them the capabilities of Fatah al-Islam, starting with Lebanon and then moving to the whole of Greater Syria," he said, referring to what is now Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Fatah al-Islam also launched four mortars at a building used by journalists for broadcasting.

One ambulance from the Palestinian Red Cross packed with medicine and vegetables entered the camp on Wednesday to supply the estimated 3,000-5,000 of the camp's original 40,000 inhabitants.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned in a report of the humanitarian situation in the camp, saying that unexploded ordnance was hampering relief activities.

"It is becoming extremely difficult to mount relief operations, not only because of the deteriorating security conditions, but also because debris and rubble and unexploded ordnance on the camp's roads are obstructing the way for ambulances and relief vehicles," said Jordi Raich Curco, the ICRC head in Lebanon.

In related developments, security sources said a Lebanese military prosecutor filed "terrorism charges" on Wednesday against six militants from Fatah al-Islam who have been detained by the security forces.

The accused are alleged to have "formed armed groups to attack civilians, the authority of the state and its civil and military institutions, and to have carried out terrorist actions which killed or injured military personnel and civilians," said the judicial source. If convicted, the militants could face the death sentence.

The sources said those in custody are mainly Lebanese and Syrian citizens. The military prosecutor has also launched proceedings in absentia against a Lebanese national in custody in Saudi Arabia on the same charges.

Since the beginning of clashes, a total of 27 men have been charged by the Lebanese authorities in connection with Fatah al-Islam.

The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation reported Wednesday that a wounded Fatah al-Islam fighter had been arrested in the Minyeh district of Tripoli while dressed as a woman.

In another development, the army discovered a depot containing more than 200 kilograms of explosives during a raid after nightfall Tuesday in the Akkar region of North Lebanon. The explosives were found at the home of a suspected Fatah al-Islam militant who was detained four days ago, the An-Nahar daily said on Wednesday.

Authorities also arrested three suspected Al-Qaeda members in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday for possessing weapons and explosives.

The three men were arrested at a flat in the Bar Elias village just west of the border with Syria in the Bekaa Valley, a security source said.

They also had forged travel and identity documents, computers, maps of Lebanese cities and night-vision equipment.

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Posted on 07 Jun 2007 by M