Fighting resumes in north Lebanon refugee camp

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, June 2 (Reuters) Fighting between Lebanese troops and an al Qaeda inspired group resumed today, a day after troops overran positions held by the militants in a Palestinian refugee camp, witnesses said.

Security sources said two Lebanese soldiers were killed overnight in a rocket propelled grenade attack on their armoured vehicle by the Fatah al-Islam militants at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in north Lebanon.

Television footage showed a plume of smoke rising from Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon as government soldiers shelled the camp. Sporadic clashes between the militants and Lebanese troops were also reported on the edges of the camp, witnesses said.

They said the fighting appeared to intensify and calm down at intervals.

The army has been battling the Fatah al-Islam militants since May 20 in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. The Lebanese government says Fatah al-Islam triggered the fighting when it attacked army positions around the camp and Lebanon's second largest city, Tripoli.

Yesterday, elite troops seized three key positions of Fatah al-Islam militants and destroyed sniper nests on the northern and eastern edges of the camp.

A military source said the army also destroyed several structures overlooking its position on the camp's edge.

At least 16 people were killed inside the camp yesterday, as well as three soldiers bringing the total death toll to at least 105, 40 of whom are soldiers.

The Nahr al-Bared camp was set up in 1948 as a temporary tent camp to house Palestinian refugees displaced by fighting in the 1948 war that accompanied the creation of Israel.

A 1969 Arab agreement prevents the army from entering Lebanon's 12 Palestinian camps, home to 400,000 refugees.

The troops did not appear to enter the official boundaries of the camp yesterday and the fighting at close quarters was taking place on its outskirts.

The militants say they are acting in self-defence.

Lebanese authorities have charged 20 captured members of the group with terrorism. The charges carry the death penalty.

The Lebanese government had given Palestinian leaders in Lebanon a chance to find a way out of the stand-off because it fears the fighting could spark violence in other refugee camps.

But the mediation efforts failed to make any progress.

Members of Lebanon's anti-Syrian cabinet have described Fatah al-Islam as a tool of Syrian intelligence, but Damascus denies any links to the group and says its leader, Shaker al-Abssi, is on Syria's wanted list.

Abssi has said he follows al Qaeda's ideology, but has no direct links to Osama bin Laden's network. Many of his estimated 300 gunmen have fought in Iraq, Palestinian sources say.

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

REUTERS JT PM1235