Soldier killed in Lebanon fighting

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, May 31 (Reuters) A Lebanese soldier was shot dead today by Islamist militants dug in at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, a military source said.

Three other soldiers were wounded in fighting with the al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam fighters based at the Nahr al-Bared camp, scene of Lebanon's worst internal clashes since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Security sources said bodies had also been found under the rubble of buildings destroyed on the edges of the camp, taking the death toll from the fighting to 84 -- 35 soldiers, 29 militants and 20 civilians.

Lebanon yesterday charged 20 captured Fatah al-Islam members with terrorism -- a charge that carries the death penalty.

The Lebanese government has demanded the militants surrender.

Fatah al-Islam, which has little Palestinian support, say they have been acting in self defence and refuse to hand over any of their fighters.

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

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.

Zaki Abbas, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) representative for Lebanon, urged the Fatah al-Islam militants to give themselves in.

''I'm ready to bring them lawyers from around the world,'' he said during a tour of Beddawi camp, where thousands who have fled Nahr al-Bared are taking shelter.

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 they are being looked after by relief organisations.

Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Palestinian group Hamas, said Palestinians in Nahr al-Bared must not suffer from the conflict.

''We are against targeting any Lebanese soldier but are also against shelling Nahr al-Bared camp. We have asked Lebanese officials to deal peacefully with the problem,'' he told reporters in Damascus.

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 group's Palestinian leader says 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 men from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria and Lebanon.

REUTERS HK BD2222