Beirut - Eleven families of the militant movement Fatah al-
Islam left Lebanon for Syria Wednesday following weeks of
negotiations, a Lebanese border security said.
The families were among 17 who fled the fighting between the
militants and the Lebanese army in north Lebanon and sought refuge at
the al-Arqam mosque in Sidon.
Six families stayed behind in Sidon, including that of Chaker al-
Abbsi, the movement's leader who is still at large, for not having
proper documents, the source said.
'We have all the proper documents but our delays are for certain
security measures,' Abbsi's wife was quoted as saying.
The families that were able to leave comprised either Syrian
mothers and their children or Palestinians living in Syria, said the
source who was at the Syrian-Lebanese border to oversee the crossing
of the families.
Fifteen weeks of battles between Lebanese troops and Fatah Islam
militants in Nahr el-Bared ended with the army crushing the Islamic
group on September 2. Around 222 militants were killed in the
fighting while others were either captured or still at large such as
Abbsi.
Early Wednesday, the women who were clad in black from head to
toe, boarded two General Security buses in front of the al-Arqam
Mosque and left accompanied by two vehicles, one for the Lebanese Red
Cross and another for the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC).
The women and children were evacuated by the Lebanese army from
the camp in August. At the time 25 women and 38 children left the
besieged camp.
Their evacuation paved the way for the Lebanese army to crush the
militants and take control of the camp.
The source said the six families that remained in Sidon included
four Jordanians which their country refused to receive and two
Syrians who did not have the proper documents.
Sheikh Ali al-Youssef member of the Palestinian Scholars'
Association, who is negotiating the deal with the Lebanese officials,
said contacts are underway with Jordanian and Syrian officials to
allow the rest of the families to leave Lebanon.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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