LEBANON ARMY CAMP SHOOTERS

BREAKING NEWS

In the Palestinian Refugee Camp 7 miles North of Tripoli Lebanon. Al Quida Terrororists are shooting it it out against the Lebanese Army. I can expect the EU ARMY to come together now to get into the scene to Guarentee peace in the mideast first, then in the future Guarentee Israels security for a Land for peace 7 year treaty. This is no Accident Bible Prophecy has to be fulfilled that the EU gets their army into the Mideast.

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-The Nation's Weather. 3-Hurricane season looms, New Orleans worries. 4-End EU constitution stalemate: Solana. 5-Hamas: Jews Must Run From Ashkelon Like From Sderot. 6-80 Bomb Shelters in Sderot Unfit for Use. 7-How to outlaw Christianity. 8-Lebanese army shells refugee. camp

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Mon May 21 15:12:03 UTC 2007

MAY 21,07
MAP 4.2 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 4.4 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 TARAPACA, CHILE

MAY 20,07
MAP 2.6 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 3.4 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 SEA OF JAPAN
MAP 4.5 SOUTH OF PANAMA
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 3.2 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.6 GULF OF CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.0 SIKKIM, INDIA
MAP 4.9 KHABAROVSKIY KRAY, RUSSIA
MAP 5.3 COQUIMBO, CHILE
MAP 4.7 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 2.9 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.6 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 4.6 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE

MAY 19,07
MAP 4.9 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.7 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.3 COLORADO
MAP 2.8 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.0 LA RIOJA, ARGENTINA
MAP 3.1 SOUTH OF ALASKA
MAP 3.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.5 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.7 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.7 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Mon May 21, 6:12 AM ET

Thunderstorms swirled over the northern Plains early Monday — raising fears of strong winds, damaging hail and tornadoes — while a warm day dawned over the Midwest and Southeast. Thunderstorms were forecast in the Rockies and western Plains, though the focal point of the activity will most likely shift slightly to the east, with more storms occurring over the Plains than the eastern slopes of the mountains.

Clear skies were predicted over the East as high pressure builds. Temperatures were expected to be about the same as Sunday's highs, but abundant sunshine should make it feel warmer.In the West, temperatures were to warm up as low pressure finally passes through the region and moves into the Intermountain region.The Northwest was unlikely to feel the warmup, though, since Washington and Oregon will likely see continued cloud cover lingers over the states.Fog should also keep Southern California cool throughout the day Monday, but will likely burn off over the beaches by afternoon.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Sunday ranged from a low of 28 degrees at Grand Marais Airport, Minn., to a high of 110 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.

Hurricane season looms, New Orleans worries By Russell McCulley and Haitham Haddadin Sun May 20, 8:58 AM ET

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - In a New Orleans still recovering from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the city safety plan for the next storm can be summed up best in two words: Get out. As the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season begins, New Orleans officials say the city is better prepared than it was before Katrina, but cannot assure people's safety.When the mayor tells the citizens to evacuate, the citizens should listen and heed the mayor's warning, said Jerry Sneed, director of the city's office of emergency preparedness.Jesse St. Amant, emergency preparedness director for Plaquemines Parish southeast of New Orleans, agreed. I would rather have somebody say I was inconvenienced (by evacuating) than to have to recover their body.Last year's hurricane season passed without a storm hitting Louisiana, which gave the city much needed time to continue its slow rebuilding.But this year, forecasters predict the hurricane season, which starts on June 1, will be busy, and the U.S. Gulf Coast could well be hit.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spent at least $1 billion strengthening levees that failed so miserably when Katrina hit on August 29, 2005, but experts say it will take billions more to secure the city, which is mostly below sea level.

The result, said Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center in Baton Rouge, is that another hurricane like Katrina could do just as much damage.Katrina, a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale when it hit New Orleans, flooded 80 percent of the city when its storm surge swamped the surrounding levees. A Category 3 storm has maximum winds of 130 miles per hour (209 kph).The storm killed at least 1,300 people and did an estimated $81 billion in damage, the most by a natural disaster in the United States.

IT WILL COMPLETELY FLOOD EVERYTHING

If we got a slow-moving Category 3, it will completely flood everything, van Heerden told Reuters at a recent hurricane conference.Louisiana Insurance Commissioner James Donelon said he believed the city's protection was strong enough to stand up to another Katrina, but beyond that, there were no guarantees.We have never, ever ... in the history of New Orleans been better protected against strong surge from hurricanes than we are today, he said in an interview. But a Category 4 or 5 hurricane on the critical path, that I can't answer.The issue is moot to local officials, who say that if a storm of any strength heads toward New Orleans, people should leave.They do not want a repeat of the anarchy after Katrina when people who did not evacuate died in the flooded city while crime and chaos reigned in the streets and in public shelters.Officials said there will be no shelters open for the next storm because they do not want to encourage people to stay. Nor do they want them trying to ride it out in their homes.

The lessons of Katrina have not been lost on New Orleans residents, many of whom have refused to return to a city they still view as a sitting duck for hurricanes. The latest population estimates show that about 255,000 people live in New Orleans now, compared to 480,000 before the storm. Those who are back worry about what this hurricane season will bring. Ina Keelen, a 21-year-old hotel employee who rode out Katrina in the city, said that next time she will leave, adding I can't take another chance with my life.

End EU constitution stalemate: Solana - REUTERS MAY 18,07

AACHEN • European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged the bloc yesterday to resolve the two-year-old stalemate over its stalled constitution, arguing the deadlock was undermining EU’s influence in the world. Receiving a prestigious German peace prize in the border city of Aachen, Solana backed efforts by Chancellor Angela Merkel to launch a blueprint for reforms of EU structures that would be in place from mid-2009. Just when we should be at our most alert, just when the world’s demand for Europe is at its highest, the Union has turned inwards, immersed in a sterile institutional crisis, Solana said. We cannot go on like this. This must be resolved as soon as possible, if possible in 2007, he told an audience packed with past and present European dignitaries. The bloc’s 27 capitals disagree on how to revive a charter all but killed off in 2005 by rejections in Dutch and French referendums. Diplomats say some consensus is, however, emerging around a slimmed down mini treaty proposed by new French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

It is not clear how much will be salvaged of the original text, which would have streamlined EU voting structures, created a more permanent presidency and a single foreign minister. Spanish Socialist Solana would have been the first holder of such a post, giving him control over EU instruments such as its vast overseas aid budget. Yet with his mandate expiring in 2009, any attempt to restore the position come too late for him. We can only develop a genuine foreign policy if we give ourselves the necessary structures, said the 64-year-old former NATO secretary-general. In the last few years, we have come a long way ... But today, we are very close to the limit of what can be achieved in this way.Solana, who has mediated in conflicts from the Balkans to the Middle East, received the Charlemagne Award.

Hamas: Jews Must Run From Ashkelon Like From Sderot
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 21,07

Nizar Riyan, a Hamas leader in Gaza, says his organization is determined to have Israel wiped off the map and be replaced by a state of Palestine. Speaking with the Hamas television station, Riyan called upon the PA Arab factions in Gaza to keep fighting the Jews even if the Arabs and Abu Mazen do not agree, until the last Jew leaves Palestine.Further dispelling any illusions that only Judea and Samaria are contested lands, Riyan called for the bombardment of Ashkelon until its Jews run away just like those of Sderot... The Arabs were expelled from Sderot and Ashkelon, and now the time has come to expel the land-stealers and allow the Arabs to return.

Preparing in Ashkelon

Ashkelon Mayor Roni Mahtzri is to meet with the Director of the Prime Minister's Bureau Monday in light of the threats facing the city. Mahtzri has already had meetings with top government and military figures on the question of how to protect Ashkelon from a feared onslaught of Kassam rockets. The city of Sderot, besieged for over five years by Kassam rockets, has many non-reinforced homes and schools; Ashkelon's population, close to 110,000, is more than five times that of Sderot. In late October 2005, Gen. Dan Harel, completing his term as head of the IDF Southern Command, warned that Ashkelon was already in range of Kassam rockets and that the city would eventually be targeted. Within a few weeks, rockets began hitting the southern outskirts of the city almost weekly, often landing near the Rotenberg Power Plant. The station is Israel's second-largest electric station, supplying about a quarter of Israels electricity. Meanwhile, Cabinet ministers are threatening Hamas leaders with personal liquidation. Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor), a former Defense Minister, said Monday that terrorist officres and even Hamas government ministers must be targeted directly, in addition to those who plan and execute Kassam attacks.Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said Monday that even Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh and exiled leader Khaled Mashaal are legitimate targets.

Dichter further said that fears for the fate of captured soldier Gilad Shalit should not govern Israel's war against terrorism, nor are they well-grounded. The return of Gilad Shalit safe and sound is a very important mission, Dichter told Army Radio. This is a goal that must be sought as if there was no war against terrorism, while at the same time we must fight against terrorism as if there was no Gilad Shalit issue. Once you start fighting terrorism with the fear of what might happen to Shalit, you endanger not only more soldiers, but also more citizens... Shalit is a great asset for Hamas, and they know that he is a very important negotiating card; they don't care about his life, but they care about his value, and will make sure to preserve it.Shalit was captured 11 months ago while guarding the Gaza border. He is being held somewhere in Gaza. Two other soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, were kidnapped on the Lebanon border 18 days later, kicking off the Second Lebanon War. It is not known if the latter two are alive, and, unlike with Shalit, negotiations have not been underway for their exchange.

80 Bomb Shelters in Sderot Unfit for Use
1 Sivan 5767, May 18, '07

(IsraelNN.com) A recent study showed that 80 bomb shelters in the city of Sderot are unfit for use. As there is no available funding to fix them, they have been used for storage. A remaining 36 shelters are functional, but most are in need of repair. The American-based Fellowship organization met with Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal on Thursday afternoon and promised 6.5 million shekels to fix the shelters. When the meeting was interrupted by dozens of Sderot residents who wished to evacuate the city, the Federation promised to sponsor 350 weekend vacations as well. Minister of Pensioners Affairs Rafi Eitan said Thursday that he had a plan to provide immediate protection for Sderot. He will meet with Moyal on Friday to present his plan.

How to outlaw Christianity (Steps 2 & 3)
May 21, 2007 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern Chuck Norris

C.S. Lewis, the former atheist and famous Oxford scholar, once said, Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.

There are a myriad of eminent scholars (like Lewis) who understand the folly of atheism. I will list a few others in this second part of my treatise to expose atheists' agenda to ban Christianity from the courts of culture. In my last article I discussed step 1 of their plan. In this discourse I will address steps 2 and 3.

Step two: target younger generations with atheism

Atheists are making a concerted effort to win the youth of America and the world. Hundreds of web sites and blogs on the Internet seek to convince and convert adolescents, endeavoring to remove any residue of theism from their minds and hearts by packaging atheism as the choice of a new generation. While you think your kids are innocently surfing the Web, secular progressives are intentionally preying on their innocence and naïveté. What's preposterous is that atheists are now advertising and soliciting on websites particularly created for teens. The London Telegraph noted that, Groups including Atheists for Human Rights and Atheist Alliance International Call 1-866-HERETIC - are setting up summer camps and an internet recruiting campaign.YouTube, the most popular video site on the Net for young people, is one of their primary avenues for passing off their secularist propaganda. Another antagonistic and self-proclaimed blasphemous site even beckons youth to record their anti-Christian beliefs on it. Even Oxford scientist Richard Dawkins is on personal campaign and militant quest to spread his name, books, and atheism all over the Internet by hoping young people will post his graphics on their MySpace page. Rather than question or critique his methods as slick marketing, young atheists are proud to post his links, follow and defend him like a religious sage, and cite his texts as infallible truth.

Step three: package and promote atheism as reasonable and scientific

Presenting atheism as scientific fact might be secularists' greatest plan and others point of greatest gullibility, in hope of winning the battle for the ultimate view of reality. And hailed as their chief advocates are men like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, Oxford University's ethologist and evolutionary biologist, with his book, The God Delusion, atheists newest bible or authoritative text.

So what credentials does a man like Dawkins have to discuss the presence or absence of God? Answer: He's a scientist. And the fact is anyone in our age who is a naturalist professor or wears a white lab coat can virtually speak upon any issue (even God) and their words are received as gospel – unless of course they are a theist! What's interesting is that atheists like Dawkins fall into the same snare they accuse of theists. While he might condemn Christians like me for not being educated enough to speak about theism or creation, his own expertise remains outside the realm of antagonism that defines his world crusade. To make dogmatic assertions about the absence of God and not possess expertise in cosmology, astrophysics, or even theology gives him no more of a credible platform than you and me, except to his devoted followers of course. He is an ethologist and evolutionary biologist – since when does that make one an expert on God? (Similarly, Sam Harris has a bachelor's in philosophy – since when does that make one an expert on the universe?) What they and other atheists are hoping you overlook are the hundreds of qualified scientists who believe in a Creator.

Dawkins condemns Christians for being narrow minded and non-adaptive to other cultures which believed in Thor or Zeus, yet he is unwavering in disrespecting any other creation authority except Western science. What about the wisdom of African, Middle-Eastern or Far-Eastern sages, shamans, or religious figures? Just because science can explain many things in the natural realm, does that mean it owns the corner market on metaphysics and God? Is it possible that the scientific worldview is inferior to reveal the truths behind the curtain of creation? Even Paul Davies, the renown British-born physicist, agnostic, professor of cosmology, quantum field theory, and astrobiology, said to Time, Science, God, and Man, that no one can rightfully say there is no God. Agnosticism – reserving judgment about divine purpose – remains as defensible as ever, but atheism – the confident denial of divine purpose – becomes trickier. If you admit that we can't peer behind a curtain, how can you be sure there's nothing there?

John Horgan, a former senior staff writer for Scientific American and the Director of the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology, wrote a book titled, The End of Science. In it he discusses the futility of men like Oxford's Dawkins, Cambridge's Hawking, and others pursuit to discover a theory of everything. He agrees with Paul Davies in purporting that we must face the limits of science in the twilight of the scientific age, opting that the discovery of ultimate answers about the universe will not rely in rationale and empirical examination but possibly a metaphysical practice. (A striking similarity to the words in the Bible, By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command.) Of course for men like Harris, Dawkins, and other atheists, the thought that science cannot provide these ultimate answers must be a horrifying reality to face, as their whole lives depend upon the western-scientific paradigm of reality. Their predicament reminds me of the words of Robert Jastrow, American astronomer, physicist and cosmologist, from his work, God and the Astronomers.

The universe has a beginning….This is an exceedingly strange development, unexpected by all but the theologians. They have always accepted the word of the Bible: In the beginning God created heaven and earth….For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. Once again the Bible is proven correct, The fool has said in his heart, There is no god.

Lebanese army shells refugee camp By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer MAY 21,07

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanese troops pounded a Palestinian refugee camp with artillery and tank fire for a second day Monday, raising huge columns of smoke as they battled a militant group suspected of ties to al-Qaida in the worst violence since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. Nearly 50 combatants were killed in the first day of fighting Sunday, but it was not known how many civilians have been killed inside the Nahr el-Bared camp on the outskirts of the northern port city of Tripoli, the site of the heaviest battles.Palestinian officials in the camp reported at least nine civilians were killed Monday, along with 40 wounded. The figures could not be confirmed because emergency workers or security officials have not been able to get in.The State Department defended the Lebanese army, saying it was working in a legitimate manner against provocations by violent extremists operating in the camp.

Black smoke engulfed the skies over the camp as fires raged and heavy gunfire and explosions rang out. The fierce fighting resumed after a brief truce that allowed the evacuation of 18 wounded civilians, according to Saleh Badran, an official with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.Lebanon was already in the midst of its worst political crisis between the Western-backed government and Hezbollah-led opposition since the end of the civil war.The battle was an unprecedented showdown between the Lebanese army and militant groups that have arisen in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps, which are home to tens of thousands of people living amid poverty and crime and which Lebanese troops are not allowed to enter.The troops were fighting a group called Fatah Islam, whose leader has said he is inspired by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and was training militants for attacks in other countries. Lebanese officials have also accused Syria of using Fatah Islam to stir up trouble in Lebanon, a charge Damascus has denied.Lebanese officials said one of the men killed Sunday was a suspect in a failed German train bombing another indication the camp had become a refuge for Fatah Islam militants planning attacks outside of Lebanon. In the past, others affiliated with the group in the camp have said they were aiming to send trained fighters into Iraq and the group's leader has been linked to al-Qaida in Iraq.

Hundreds of Lebanese troops, backed by tanks and armored carriers, surrounded the refugee camp Monday. M-48 battle tanks unleashed their cannon fire on the camp, home to 30,000 Palestinian refugees. The militants fired mortars toward the troops at daybreak.An army officer at the front line said troops directed concentrated fire at buildings known to house militants. He said troops also had orders to strike hard at any target that returned fire.Everything we know that they were present in has been targeted, he told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.A spokesman for Fatah Islam, Abu Salim, warned that if the army bombardment did not stop, the militants would step up attacks by rockets and artillery and would take the battle outside Tripoli.He did not elaborate.It is a life-or-death battle. Their aim is to wipe out Fatah Islam. We will respond and we know how to respond, he told the AP.Earlier in the day, another refugee camp, Ein el-Hilweh in southern Lebanon, was tense after Lebanese troops surrounded it and armed militants went on alert.At least 27 soldiers and 20 militants were killed Sunday, Lebanese security officials said. But they did not know how many civilians had been killed in the camp because it is off-limits to their authority.

Lebanon says it has no authority to enter the camps under understandings with the Palestinians that give the PLO the authority in the camps. But Lebanon also is believed to be leery of entering for fear that any such actions would cause widespread unrest, be very costly and could spark pan-Arab sympathy for the Palestinian refugees that would trigger a backlash against the country. The clashes were triggered Sunday when police raided suspected Fatah Islam hideouts in several buildings in Tripoli, searching for men wanted in a recent bank robbery. A gunbattle erupted at one of the buildings between the group's fighters, and troops were called in to help the police. Militants then burst out of the nearby refugee camp, seizing Lebanese army positions, capturing two armored vehicles and ambushing troops. Lebanese troops later laid siege to the camp, where Fatah Islam militants were believed to be hiding.Fatah Islam is led by a Palestinian named Shaker al-Absi, who is wanted in three countries. He told The New York Times in March that he was trying to spread al-Qaida's ideology and was training fighters inside the camp for attacks on other countries. He would not specify which countries but expressed anger toward the United States. And he was sentenced to death earlier in absentia along with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq killed last summer by U.S. forces in Iraq, for the 2002 assassination of an American diplomat in Jordan.

In a news conference in March, al-Absi denied he was sending fighters to Iraq.

Fighting in our homeland (Palestine) is more important, he said then. We have no connection with any regime or organization on this earth. Our connection is with There is no God but God' (the slogan of Islam). We have come to raise it over the skies of Jerusalem.Al-Absi had been in custody in Syria until last fall but was released and set up his group in the camp, where he apparently found recruits, Lebanese officials said. Lebanon's national police commander, Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, said Damascus was using Fatah Islam as a covert way to wreak havoc in the country. He denied Fatah Islam's al-Qaida links, saying it was a Syrian-bred group. Perhaps there are some deluded people among them but they are not al-Qaida. This is imitation al-Qaida, a Made in Syria one, he told the AP. Lebanese security officials said Fatah Islam has up to 100 members who come from Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Syria, as well as local sympathizers who belong to the conservative Salafi branch of Islam. The Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. TV station reported the dead militants included men from Bangladesh, Yemen and other Arab countries. Some wore explosive belts, security officials said.

Officials identified the suspect in the failed German train bombing as Saddam El-Hajdib, the fourth -highest ranking official in the Fatah Islam group, an official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. El-Hajdib had been on trial in absentia in Lebanon in the failed German plot. It was unclear whether Lebanese authorities had known the whereabouts of El-Hajdib or al-Absi before the gunbattle first broke Sunday out in Tripoli. The State Department gave its support to the Lebanese army's battle with Fatah Islam. This is a group that has been involved in violence to achieve whatever their stated objective may be, spokesman Sean McCormack said. McCormack declined to discuss whether the group may be tied to al-Qaida or other groups outside Lebanon. Asked about a possible Syrian link, McCormack said, At this point I wouldn't draw that connection.In Monday's fighting, a driver for the AP, working with journalists at the scene, was injured when he was hit in the thigh by a bullet or shrapnel. He was being treated at a hospital and was expected to recover. Ahmed Methqal, a Muslim cleric in the camp, told Al-Jazeera that five civilians had been killed. You can say there is a massacre going on in the camp of children and women who have nothing to do with Fatah Islam, he said. They are targeting buildings, with people in them.Lebanon has struggled to defeat armed groups that control pockets of the country — especially inside the 12 Palestinian refugee camps housing 350,000 people. Some camps have become havens for Islamic militants accused of carrying out attacks in the country and of sending recruits to fight U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq. Palestinian officials from the moderate Fatah faction in the West Bank sought to distance themselves from Fatah Islam and urged Palestinian refugees in the camp to isolate the militant group. Associated Press Writer Hussein Dakroub in Beirut contributed.