Lebanon army shells camp, 3 soldiers die

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, June 9 (Reuters) Lebanese troops shelled al Qaeda-inspired militants entrenched in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp today and three soldiers died in the heavy battles, security sources said.

They said 21 soldiers were also wounded today's in which machinegun fire reverberated and heavy artillery shelling rocked the camp's edges from early morning.

Television footage showed heavy black smoke billowing from many of the camp's buildings, some punctured by shells.

''The army is trying to control positions that the militants are using to target the army,'' a military source said.

''The militants sometimes intensify their efforts (and launch stronger attacks), and sometimes resort to sniper attacks from these positions.'' At least 118 people, including 50 soldiers and 38 militants, have been killed since the fighting began on May 20 -- almost three weeks ago -- making it Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Only a few thousand of the 40,000 residents now remain in the coastal camp short of food, water and electricity. The main road linking Tripoli to the Syrian border was closed for the first time in about a week.

''There is no movement between the camp's neighbourhoods because some shells are falling in civilian areas. The basic necessities of life aren't available,'' a resident of the camp, said by telephone.

''ONLY WAY OUT'' The latest mediation efforts by Lebanese Islamists to try to convince the militants to surrender have had no success.

But Lebanese sources said the Islamic Action Front, which includes Sunni politicians and clerics, and a grouping of Palestinian clerics, would continue efforts to find a solution.

''These people are insisting they don't surrender ... It is the only way out,'' the Front's leader Fathi Yakan told Reuters.

''We are trying in every way to convince them, even using Islamic intellectual arguments and sharia (Islamic law) that this is not the right way,'' said Yakan, who added a proposed first step was the surrender of the group's Lebanese members.

The militants, many of whom are foreign fighters from other Arab countries, have vowed to fight to the death.

The fighting began on May 20 when the militants attacked army units deployed around Nahr al-Bared after one of their hideouts in a nearby city was stormed.

Lebanon is already struggling with a 7-month-old political crisis, and there are fears that fighting could spread.

Deadly clashes have erupted at Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp in the past week, and five bombs have rocked civilian areas in and near Beirut since May 20.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the army was holding back to preserve civilian lives.

''That's why this battle is taking longer; and it's worth pointing out that these terrorists are well-equipped and well-trained and persistent,'' he told French television station TV5 on Friday.

Fatah al-Islam was officially formed late last year. Its leader, veteran Palestinian guerrilla Shaker al-Abssi, says he shares the same ideology as al Qaeda but has no organisational links with Osama bin Laden's network.

Authorities have charged 32 detained members of Fatah al-Islam with terrorism, charges that carry the death penalty.

REUTERS AE RN1705