Local News
98 Islamic Militants Buried in Lebanon
By Associated Press
Oct 5, 2007 - 1:58:27 AM

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Nearly 100 suspected militants who died in a three-month battle with Lebanese troops at a Palestinian refugee camp were buried Thursday in a mass grave in the northern city of Tripoli.

Officials said the militants included Palestinians who had not been claimed by their families, as well as nationals from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, Tunis and Algeria — reflecting the international makeup of Fatah Islam, the al-Qaida-inspired group that made its stronghold in the Nahr el-Bared camp outside Tripoli.

The Lebanese army's battle against Fatah Islam ended on Sept. 2 after a three-month siege that destroyed large parts of the camp. The government has said about 220 militants and 168 Lebanese soldiers were killed, while Palestinian officials have said 47 Palestinian civilians died.

The 98 bodies — all neatly numbered and wrapped in white shrouds — were transported by police trucks from the Government Hospital in Tripoli to the nearby Ghurabaa cemetery for burial Thursday.

After a short prayer for the dead led by a Sunni Muslim cleric, security forces lowered the corpses into freshly dug pits in the ground next to each other.

Security was tight along roads leading to the area. Several dozen Tripoli residents attended the funeral, which saw no disturbances.