Lebanese army, Islamists clash; 3 soldiers wounded

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, May 31 (Reuters) Three Lebanese soldiers were wounded today in skirmishes with Islamist militants dug-in at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, security sources said.

The Lebanese army have been battling al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam fighters at Nahr al-Bared camp since May 20 when the militants attacked its positions there.

The death toll from the fighting, the worst in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war, rose to 83 -- 34 soldiers, 29 militants and 20 civilians -- after more bodies were found under rubble in the frontline on the edge of the camp, the sources said.

Lebanon charged on Wednesday 20 Fatah al-Islam members, captured during the battles, with terrorism -- a charge that carries the death penalty.

The Lebanese government has demanded the militants surrender.

Fatah al-Islam say they have been acting in self defence and refuse to hand over any of their fighters.

A 1969 Arab agreement stops the army entering Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps, home to 400,000.

The government has given Palestinian leaders in Lebanon a chance to find a way out of the stand-off, as it is concerned that the refugees will see more army action at the camp as an attack on their community.

More than 25,000 of the camp's 40,000 Palestinians have fled the fighting. Most of the displaced refugees have flooded the nearby Beddawi camp, where humanitarian organisations have been carrying out relief work.

Members of Lebanon's anti-Syrian cabinet have described Fatah al-Islam as a tool of Syrian intelligence, although Damascus denies any links to the group. The Palestinian leader of the group says that he follows the same ideology as al Qaeda and many of his estimated 300 gunmen have fought in Iraq.

Lebanese authorities say Fatah al-Islam includes Arabs from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria and Lebanon.

REUTERS PJ BD1844