Palestinian, Islamist factions meet in Ein el-Hilweh--discuss recent security incidents.

--Palestinian, Islamist Factions Meet in Ein el-Hilweh

--Discuss Recent Security Incidents

Following the alarming assassinations in the volatile Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh that targeted two bodyguards of Mahmoud Abdel Hamid Issa, known as "Al-Lino," the head of Palestinian party Fatah's police force inside the camp, Palestinian factions affiliated with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) held a meeting with "Islamist forces" Monday to review the security developments. The Beirut daily AN NAHAR said Tuesday that the attendees agreed "to contain [attempts seeking to] sow strife and condemn the assassinations and all forms of tension that negatively affects the camp."

According to a statement carried by the daily, the Palestinian and Islamist factions stressed that the perpetrators "need to be revealed and penalized," and that any efforts aimed at whipping up internal fighting must be "thwarted". The daily quoted Salah al-Youssef, who is a member of the political bureau of the PLO, as saying that the meeting was "positive". He added that all factions inside the camp "are keen" to prevent any groups from targeting the security of Ein al-Hilweh. The daily also quoted Lino as saying that "there are new faces in the camp that were not present before and [these people] are responsible [for the recent events that surfaced inside the camp."

The Beirut daily AN NAHAR reported on Monday that a militant and masked man shot dead Amer Fistoq [sic] a bodyguard of Lino. The crime wounded four other people and mobilized the forces of the Palestinian Fatah movement and Islamist groups inside the camp (See MER 19/12/2011). Another bodyguard, Ashraf Qadiri, was also killed last Wednesday when an unknown militant entered his shop and shot him dead (See MER 1611212011.