Lebanon camp clashes

More people are dying from the clashes between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam militants who are currently beseiging a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. So far, 100 people have died, including civilians.

The UN says about 25,000 people have fled the camp but some of the 31,000 original residents remain trapped inside.

The army said some of the militants were using civilians as human shields and called on the militants to surrender.

This is the background story of what's going on. Basically, Fatah al-Islam appears to be a new militant group that follows al-Qaeda's radical ideology.

The leader of Fatah al-Islam, Shaker al-Abssi, had reported links with Abu Musab Zarqawi, who led al-Qaeda in Iraq until he was killed last year.

On the other hand, the Lebanese government perceives Fatah al-Islam to be Syrian intelligence, though the Syria government denies all links.

The government regards Fatah al-Islam as an instrument of Syrian intelligence. It believes the timing of the current crisis is linked to efforts to set up an international tribunal into the killing in 2005 of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Syria denies involvement in the assassination, but its critics suspect it is trying to destabilise Lebanon in order to block the creation of the tribunal.

Which is the truth?