Fatah al-Islam declares unilateral Lebanon ceasefire

BEIRUT: The Sunni extremist group Fatah al-Islam which has been battling Lebanese troops for three days around a Palestinian refguee camp said on Tuesday it would observe a unilateral ceasefire.   

"We have announced through the media that we are ready to respect a ceasefire, starting at 1130 GMT on Tuesday, and we hope that the Lebanese army will accept our offer in order to help end the suffering of civilians in Nahr Al-Bared," spokesman Abu Sali Taha said.   

However "if the bombardments of the army resume, we will be patient for a while but we will respond if they persist," he said.   

A total of 65 people have been killed in three days of battles around the impoverished refugee camp and the nearby Mediterranean port city of Tripoli.   

"We want to put an end to the ordeal of the civilians in the camp which is bombarded by the army in order to end a battle that we have not chosen and into which we have been dragged," he said.   

A Lebanese army spokesman said that "we are not ready to announce any agreements because since the start, the army has been respecting (the rules of) a ceasefire".   

"Our soldiers are only returning fire," said the spokesman who did not wish to be identified.   

"The force will continue to respond to the fire of armed elements deployed inside the camp where civilians reside and which we are trying to protect."