Member of Fatah movement assassinated in Ein al-Helweh camp

A Palestinian source in Ein al-Helweh, Lebanon, announced yesterday that a member in the Fatah movement, led by the chairman of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat, was killed on Saturday evening by bullets in Ein al-Helweh camp for the Palestinian refugees.

The same source said that "unidentified persons on Saturday evening knocked at the door of Raed Hujeir's house and killed him by fire before they had fled."

On May 19, violent confrontations took place between supporters for the Fatah movement and two Islamist groups that resulted in killing 8 persons and wounding other 25, following the assassination of another member in Fatah in the camp which is situated near Sidon.

Fatah which lost 6 of its members in the clashes abided by a cease fire after it had failed to suppress these groups in the largest Palestinian refugees camp in Lebanon.

Like the other 11 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Ein al-Helweh whose population is 65,000 inhabitants does not fall under the authority of the Lebanese security forces.