BEIRUT, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said on Monday that the situation in the Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon has stabilized.
"The atmosphere has calmed down, and security agencies continue to exert effort to arrest the perpetrators," Mawlawi said at a press conference in Beirut, according to the National News Agency.
Clashes erupted in Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon between members of the Palestinian Fatah movement and hardline Islamists since the early morning on July 30 and continued until dawn on Thursday, resulting in several deaths and injuries.
The clashes prompted some Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, to urge their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately, while others, such as Kuwait, warned their citizens to stay away from areas of disturbance.
Mawlawi assured that "the Lebanese state does not cover any criminal or perpetrator or any organization, and political and military contacts are continuing to hand over those involved in the events of Ain Al-Helweh camp."
The minister added that "There is no compromise on the application of the law," stressing Lebanon will not be used as a "stage for sending messages."
Clashes between rival groups often occur in the Ain Al-Helweh camp, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp. The ongoing Syria crisis has also led to an influx of Syrian refugees and Palestine refugees displaced from Syria. ■
