Said Moussa, better know by his nom de guerre "Abou Moussa", rejected yesterday the disarmament of Palestinian militia outside the refugee camps."This is solely a Palestinian decision and not in the hands of any other power," he added.
It is an outrage that a Palestinian dictates what happens on Lebanese soil, and the bigger outrage is that there was no noticeable response by the Lebanese government. Only the Kataeb party expressed its indignation over the statement.
Palestinian weapons in Lebanon have sown death and destruction since the 50's, and especially during the Lebanese war that started in 1975 killing and maiming hundreds of thousands of Lebanese. Those weapons have also caused the death of thousands of Palestinians during inter-Palestinian clashes. A number of Palestinian militias maintain weapons in Palestinian refugee camps under a de facto agreement dating back to the 1960's. A fewer number of factions, including Gibril's terrorist organization (PFLP) and Abu Mussa's Fatah al Intifada.
What is quite mysterious is why are these organizations allowed to keep their weapons when all militias were disarmed in 1990? As a result, we have in Lebanon a number of militias that militarily control their fiefdoms inside sovereign Lebanese territory, including the various Palestinian factions mostly in the Bekaa and South, and Hizbollah over most of Lebanon.
The Lebanese government needs to take immediate action against Abu Mussa's militia and other Palestinian groups outside of the camps if it is to maintain any semblance of credibility. Dealing with Palestinian weapons in the camps is more politically and militarily difficult and can be undertaken at a later stage.
If no action is taken, other Lebanese factions will be compelled to re-arm, leading to a dangerous race to building the same militias that brought Lebanon's downfall in the 70's through the 90's.
