As army crushes camp, Lebanon villagers cheer

MOHAMMARA, Lebanon - Lebanon's army yesterday crushed the last remnants of a militant group in a ferocious gun battle that killed 39 of the fighters, ending a bloody three-month siege at a Palestinian refugee camp that was the scene of the country's worst internal violence in years.

Nearby villages celebrated with fireworks, drumming and dancing after the government declared victory.

The al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah Islam fighters made their last stand by trying to stage a dawn breakout from the Nahr el-Bared camp, triggering the final gun battles.

The militants sneaked through a tunnel to an area of the camp under army control and fought with troops. At the same time, another group of fighters struck elsewhere to try to escape. They were aided by outside fighters arriving in cars, said security officials and state-run television.

Troop reinforcements deployed close to the camp on Lebanon's northern Mediterranean coastline. They blocked roads to prevent fighters from sneaking out, residents said. Helicopters provided aerial reconnaissance, and checkpoints were erected as far as Beirut and southern Lebanon.

Troops hunted the militants down in buildings, fields and roads around the camp, residents said, and the army launched dragnets to capture any still at large.

Residents of nearby villages, armed with guns and sticks, fanned out to protect their houses and prevent the fighters from seeking refuge and melting into the local population, state TV reported. Smoke billowed from fields where the army set fires to deny militants a hiding place.

Mohammed Khodor Najib, 65, boasted about how he captured a militant in Mohammara, a farming community near the camp.

"I found one of them hiding in my garden," he said. Using a hunting rifle, he opened fire. "I hit him and handed him over to the army."

Officials said the army killed 39 fighters and captured at least 15 others. It was not immediately known how many militants managed to escape. By late afternoon, only occasional gunfire and could be heard from Nahr el-Bared.

The army said three soldiers were killed in yesterday's fighting and two on Saturday, raising to 158 the number of troops who have died in the conflict - Lebanon's worst internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war. More than 20 civilians and more than 60 militants also were killed.

Fatah Islam set up its headquarters at the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp last fall. Some Lebanese officials say the group is a branch of al-Qaeda that wants to make Lebanon and the Palestinian refugee camps there a safe haven. The State Department has called the group an offshoot of a Syrian-backed militia, Fatah al-Intifada.

The siege at Nahr el-Bared began May 20 when police raided militants' hideouts in the nearby city of Tripoli. Fighters burst out of the nearby refugee camp, ambushing army troops called in to help. The army then laid siege to the camp with tanks and artillery.

Families of the militants - women and children - were evacuated in late August, the last civilians to leave the camp. Before yesterday, Lebanese officials had said up to 70 militants remained in the bombed-out camp - down from an estimated 360 fighters when the fighting erupted in May.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called yesterday's battle the "greatest national victory for Lebanon over the terrorists in Nahr el-Bared." He said in a televised speech to the country this was "an hour of pride, victory and joy with regard to the sacrifices offered by our country and martyrs."

The fate of Fatah Islam's leader, Shaker al-Absi, was not immediately clear. A senior security official said a cleric recognized a body in a nearby government hospital as that of Absi. Authorities sent for his wife to identify the body while a DNA test was being conducted.

Absi, a Palestinian linked to the late leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has not been seen or heard from since early in the fighting.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in villages when news of Fatah Islam's collapse spread. Relieved townspeople and troops celebrated in the streets, waving Lebanese flags and flashing victory signs.

The joy cut through the deep political divisions in the country, with supporters of both the government and opposition praising the army. President Emile Lahoud said the army "has achieved what superpowers could not in confronting terrorism."