The World : Shias Lift Palestinian Siege

Nabih Berri, leader of the Shia Muslim Amal militia, lifted a three-year siege of Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut and southern Lebanon, calling it a good-will gesture of support for Palestinian protests in Israeli-occupied territories. Berri said Amal fighters will be withdrawn from the fringes of the Borj el Brajne and Chatilla camps in Syrian-controlled Muslim West Beirut and Rashidiyeh in southern Lebanon, home for 30,000 refugees. Berri said that freedom of movement at the camps will be guaranteed by observer groups including Palestinians, Amal and Lebanese and Syrian security forces. Amal had attempted to keep its Muslim rivals from rebuilding their forces after Israel drove Palestinian fighters out of Beirut in 1982.