Sniper kills Lebanese soldier fighting Islamists

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, June 25 (Reuters) A sniper shot dead a Lebanese soldier today in fighting with Islamist militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in which a civilian was also killed, security sources said.

The Lebanese army has been battling al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam at Nahr al-Bared camp since May 20 in the worst internal fighting since the 1975-1990 civil war.

The latest casualties brought to at least 178 the number of people killed -- 81 soldiers, 60 militants and 37 civilians.

The battles, which have destroyed much of the camp and displaced most of its 40,000 inhabitants, have threatened to spill over to other areas of Lebanon.

Lebanese troops killed seven militants yesterday after a 10-hour standoff in a building in the northern city of Tripoli. One soldier, one policeman and three civilians were also killed.

Fatah al-Islam leaders deny direct links to al Qaeda, but say they agree with its ideas. The government accuses Syria of using the group to destabilise Lebanon in a bid to regain hegemony there.

Damascus denies this and says al Qaeda-type groups threaten its own security.

Whether Fatah al-Islam has foreign sponsors or not, its fighters are well-armed and willing to die in what they see as a jihad. But they have little Lebanese or Palestinian support.

REUTERS SKB PM1805