Thousands flee Lebanon violence*

Thousands of people have been fleeing from a refugee camp in northern
Lebanon after three days of heavy fighting between troops and Islamist
militants.

Palestinian residents of the Nahr al-Bared camp were trapped as troops
exchanged fire with Fatah al-Islam fighters holed up in the camp.

Witnesses said many took advantage of a lull in the fighting to leave.

Earlier an informal truce was declared, with the militants pledging to
cease fire if the troops did the same.

There was a reduction in the fighting, although sporadic clashes were
reported.

UN aid convoys entered the camp to deliver food and water, but one was
forced to leave after shells exploded near its vehicles.

'No power, no food'

Witnesses said that as the fighting lessened, a mass exodus began.

"Thousands of refugees - men, women and children - started fleeing on
foot or by car from Nahr al-Bared camp from early evening to take
shelter in the nearby Beddawi camp," Hajj Rifaat, a camp official, told
the news agency AFP.

Vehicles crammed with up to 10 people were flying white flags as they
left, Reuters news agency said.

Ashraf Abu Khorj, who lives inside the camp, told the BBC conditions
there were dire.

"Really really, the situation is so bad - no power, no food, no water,"
he said. "There is no hospital inside the camp. There are a lot of
people injured, there are a lot of people dying."

Appeal for calm

The fighting is the bloodiest internal conflict in Lebanon since the
civil war ended 17 years ago.

Dozens of soldiers, militants and civilians have been killed in the
clashes, which began on Sunday.

The Lebanese government has pledged to root out the militants, who it
says are being backed by Syria.

On Monday evening, the cabinet authorised the army to step up its
efforts and "end the terrorist phenomenon that is alien to the values
and nature of the Palestinian people".

The US State Department, meanwhile, said it was considering an urgent
request from the Lebanese government for more military aid to help
battle the militants.

And in Beirut, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana met
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to discuss the fighting, appealing
for calm and calling on the military to respect the safety of civilians.

Sunday's clashes erupted when security forces tried to arrest suspects
in a bank robbery. Militants from Fatah al-Islam then attacked army
posts at the entrances to the camp.

Lebanon is home to more than 350,000 Palestinian refugees, many of whom
fled or left their homes when Israel was created in 1948.