Lebanon detains ultra-nationalists

BEIRUT - Lebanon has detained three leaders of an ultra-nationalist Christian party after it distributed CDs calling on every Lebanese to kill a Palestinian, judicial sources said.

A prosecutor ordered the detention of Habib Younes, Naji Awdeh and Joseph Khoury Tawk, members of the Guardians of the Cedars Party, "on charges of breaching judicial clauses and harming relations with Arab countries", the sources said.

The three leaders of the party, which was set up during a 1975-1990 civil war but has been dormant for the past 15 years, called at a news conference on Tuesday for "expelling Palestinian refugees and confiscating their property".

"No Palestinian should be left in Lebanon", and "Every Lebanese should kill a Palestinian", are two of its civil war slogans distributed on CD during the conference, the daily As Safir newspaper said.

Etienne Sakr, the leader of the party, was sentenced to death in absentia after the war for collaborating with Israel.

During the civil war, rightwing Christian parties allied with Israel to drive out Palestinian guerrillas who had set up a strong presence in the country since the early 1970s.

The party resurfaced again after Syria, which was the main powerbroker in Lebanon during the post-war period, withdrew its forces from the country under international pressure last April after the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

- REUTERS