Palestinians clash in Lebanon camp, 2 wounded

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Members of two families loyal to rival Palestinian factions exchanged gunfire at the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp in southern Beirut on Friday, wounding two people, security sources said.

They said the clashes subsided after high-level contacts between Palestinian faction representatives.

The families were affiliated to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group and the pro-Syrian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC).

The camp is close to Beirut's airport and to the southern suburbs, a Hezbollah bastion.

Fatah loyalists burned tyres at the entrance of the Ain al-Hilweh camp in south Lebanon to block a march called for by Syrian-backed factions, witnesses said.

There are 12 refugee camps in Lebanon, home to half of 400,000 Palestinians in country.

Tension has risen at the refugee camps, which are outside the control of the Lebanese authorities, especially after Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in fighting with Fatah in June and the Lebanese army fought Islamist militants at another camp earlier this year.

More than 400 people died in 15 weeks of battles between al Qaeda-inspired militants and Lebanese troops at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon.