Sheikh Ibrahim vows escalation until the Islamist detainees are released

                   
The families of Islamist detainees staged a sit-in on Sunday outside the Roumieh prison, noting that the Lebanese Armed Forces(LAF) banned the media from arriving to the prison in order to cover the demonstration.               

In this context, Sheikh Mohammad Ibrahim said that the Lebanese judiciary refuses to release the Islamist detainees, and vowed escalation until the detainees are released, adding that political forces imposed pressure on some parties to prevent them from participating in the sit-in.         

In this regard, Sheikh Ibrahim pointed out that a number of Judges as well as Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati did not meet their promises to release the detainees, calling on the LAF to reveal the reasons behind the measures taken to tighten the noose around the families’ movements.

On May 19, 2007, the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) surrounded a group of Fatah al-Islam militants accused of taking part in a bank robbery earlier that day. The ISF attacked the building the next day, unleashing a day long battle between the ISF and Fatah al-Islam militants on 200 Street, Tripoli.

As a response, members of Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp attacked an army checkpoint, killing several soldiers in their sleep. The army immediately responded.                               

The camp became the center of the fighting between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam. It sustained heavy shelling while under siege. The last civilians (25 women and 38 children, the families of Fatah al-Islam members) were evacuated from the camp on Friday August 24, 2007.                                           

The conflict between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam ended on Sunday September 2, 2007 with the Lebanese Army taking full control of the camp after eliminating the remaining terrorist pockets.                                     

168 Lebanese army soldiers and 226 militants were killed in the 105 day conflict. Between 400 and 500 soldiers had been wounded and more than 215 militants had been captured.