Lebanese soldier killed in battle at camp

BEIRUT, Aug 4 (Reuters) A Lebanese solider was killed today in fighting with al Qaeda-inspired Islamist militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon, security sources said.

The army has lost 131 soldiers since the battle with the Fatah al-Islam militants erupted on May 20 at the Nahr al-Bared camp. In total, at least 257 people have been killed in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Fatah al-Islam, which split from a Syrian-backed Palestinian faction last year, has Lebanese, Palestinians and other Arabs in its ranks, including some who have fought in Iraq. It says it supports al Qaeda's ideas, but has no direct links with it.

The conflict has further undermined stability in Lebanon, already crippled by a prolonged political crisis and shaken by bombings that have killed six UN peacekeepers and two anti-Syrian lawmakers in the past eight months.

The assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005 marked an end to the relative stability Lebanon had experienced since it emerged from the civil war.

Nahr al-Bared camp was home to 40,000 refugees before the fighting erupted. Most have fled to a nearby Palestinian camp.

REUTERS PY VC2003