PLO Fighters Reduced to Gatekeepers

EIN EL-HILWEH CAMP, Lebanon - In the 1970s, Yasser Arafat's PLO reigned supreme in Lebanon. Today, the guerrillas are confined to a dozen Palestinian refugee camps across the country.

Gone are the days when their mere presence drew the awe - and fear - of Palestinian refugees and Lebanese alike.

Now, they are no more than gatekeepers as they sit idly on plastic chairs at the entrances of the camps, dejectedly smoking cigarettes.

"We used to be up there," said one guerrilla, Abu Khaled, looking upward. "Now, we're rock bottom."

Instead of their self-proclaimed original goal of fighting for a return of their people to their homeland, the PLO guerillas' …