Source:Xinhua Published: 2013-7-4 8:39:05
Visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday urged here "disassociating" the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Syria from conflicts in the two countries.
At a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman, Abbas said the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon abide by the Lebanese cabinet's decision regarding the possession of arms at the refugee camps.
By long-standing convention, the Lebanese army does not enter the 12 refugee camps in the country, leaving the security responsibility inside the camps to the Palestinians themselves.
For his part, Suleiman revealed that there are Palestinians that are "individually taking part in the country's conflict," warning "It is for their and for Lebanon's best interests if they do not get involved."
Suleiman praised efforts exerted to prevent the involvement of any Palestinian faction in the clashes of the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.
Abbas' visit to Lebanon comes days after fierce clashes took place between the army and gunmen supporting Salafist cleric Ahmed al-Assir in Sidon.
The Palestinian Ain el-Hilweh camp near Sidon is the largest Palestinian camp in the country and home to about 50,000 refugees. It is known to have harbored extremists and fugitives as well as supporters of al-Assir.
Hundreds of Palestinian refugees have fled to Lebanon after fierce clashes at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, capital of violence-stricken Syria.