In brief: Refugees flee clashes in camp

BEIRUT – Hundreds of residents of a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital Damascus fled Sunday amid shelling by government forces and clashes between Islamic State fighters and Palestinian militants, activists said.

An activist based in an area just south of Damascus, Hatem al-Dimashqi, said many residents started fleeing the Yarmouk camp after midnight as the fighting let up. The camp has been subjected to intense shelling and airstrikes by the government.

Al-Dimashqi and Syrian state TV said as many as 2,000 people have left the camp.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in Ramallah that residents of Yarmouk have been victimized by Syria’s civil war. Government forces and different rebel factions are clashing and “we pay the price,” he said.

He added that the Palestine Liberation Organization in Damascus has formed a “cell to handle this tragedy and they are trying to work it out with the least losses.”

“We are in touch with our brothers there to find a way out and protect our people.”

Islamic State militants stormed the camp on Wednesday, marking the extremist group’s deepest foray yet into the capital.

Greece says it will repay loan on time

WASHINGTON – Greece’s finance minister on Sunday told the International Monetary Fund chief that his country will repay a substantial loan from the organization that is due this week.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Yanis Varoufakis met in Washington for an “informal discussion” on the debt-stricken nation’s reform program, an IMF statement said. The Greek government has said Varoufakis will meet with U.S. Treasury officials today.

Greece is in difficult negotiations with creditors over its bailout program, which has delayed the disbursement of the final 7.2 billion euro ($7.9 billion) aid tranche. That has led to a cash crunch, forcing the government to tap reserves.

Greece must repay a 450 million euro IMF loan installment on Thursday. Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas on Saturday told TV station Mega that Greece has the funds but it is up to the government to decide whether to pay.

Bomb kills one in central Cairo

CAIRO – A bomb blast on a bridge leading to an upscale neighborhood in central Cairo killed a policeman and wounded at least two passers-by on Sunday, hours after Egyptian security forces killed the leader of an extremist group that claimed responsibility, police said.

Extremist group Ajnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt, claimed responsibility for the bombing in a message posted on a Twitter account it uses, the SITE intelligence group said.

Later in the day, a security official said troops had killed Ajnad Misr’s leader and founder in a shootout at a Cairo apartment at dawn.