SIDON, Lebanon: A Fatah member was handed over to the Lebanese Army Friday over the recent killing of the bodyguard of a senior Fatah commander in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh.Meanwhile, a Hamas official in Lebanon said recent incidents of violence in the camp were not linked to an attack that targeted French peacekeepers in Lebanon along with the launching of rockets from south Lebanon toward Israel earlier in December.

Palestinian sources said the family of suspect Abdel-Razzaq Ghazzi, a member of Fatah, handed him overnight to the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Armed Struggle police force in the camp, which lies on the outskirts of the city of Sidon.

In turn, Ghazzi, 35, who is under the command of senior Fatah commander Maj. Gen. Mounir Maqdah, was handed over to Lebanese Army Intelligence at dawn Friday.

Ghazzi is suspected of involvement in Sunday’s assassination of Amer Fustoq, the bodyguard of Brig. Mahmoud Issa, who heads the Palestinian Armed Struggle force, in the second incident of its kind in less than a week.

Issa, better known as “Lino,” said the Palestinian Armed Struggle was working “calmly” as it sifted through information with regard to Ghazzi’s possible involvement in the murder.

“The detainee is held by our brothers in the Lebanese Army whom we trust and respect ... the law will take its course,” he said.

For his part, Maqdah denied that Ghazzi had acknowledged his involvement in the incident. “Despite his denial, we insisted that he be handed over to the Lebanese Army for interrogation,” he told The Daily Star. “We told Lebanese authorities that we have lifted immunity on criminal conduct.”

“I said that any wanted person from the camp will not be protected because these crimes serve the Israeli enemy,” he added.

In separate remarks, Maqdah said Ghazzi was being detained by Lebanese authorities as a witness.

Separately, Hamas official in Lebanon Ali Baraka said the recent incidents in Ain al-Hilweh were unrelated to security incidents in the south.

“Palestinian refugee camps have nothing to do with what happened recently in south Lebanon,” he said, referring to a bombing that targeted UNIFIL peacekeepers this month, and two separate launchings of rockets toward Israel since November.

“We condemn these assassinations in Ain al-Hilweh and we call for a neutral fact-finding mission [to perform its work in Ain al-Hilweh],” he added.

Baraka’s remarks came during a meeting between Islamist factions in Ain al-Hilweh and a delegation from the Alliance of Palestinian Factions, which comprises Palestinian groups that are not members of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The meeting was held at the home of Abu Tareq Saadi, an official from Esbat al-Ansar Islamist faction in the camp, and brought together Baraka, Abu Ramez Mustafa, the representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command in Lebanon, and Mohammad Yassin, from the Liberation Front.

Also attending was Sheikh Jamal Khattab, on behalf of the Islamist groups in the camp while Abu Sharif Aql represented Esbat al-Ansar.