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Lebanese soldiers flash the victory sign as they sit on their armored vehicle on the outskirts of the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared, in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon Sunday. (AP)
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Siniora declares victory after Lebanese army seizes camp
By The Associated Press

Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on Sunday declared victory over terrorism after the army seized the last Islamic militant stronghold in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

It is the greatest national victory for Lebanon over the terrorists in Nahr el-Bared, Siniora said, hours after the Lebanese army took control of the camp in a ferocious battle that left 39 militants of Fatah Islam and three soldiers killed. Another 20 militants were captured and an unknown number has fled, with troops giving chase.

"It is a great success that the Lebanese army has achieved over the terrorists, those who sought chaos, destruction and tragedies for Lebanon," he said in a televised speech to the country.

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The fighting at Nahr el-Bared erupted May 20, making it the worst internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war. A total of 158 soldiers, more than 20 civilians and dozens of militants have died in the fighting.

Siniora repeated a promise to the thousands of Palestinian refugees who have fled the camp in the early days of the fighting to rebuild the area, which has been devastated by the bombardment over the last three and a half months.

The resistance of the al-Qaida-inspired militants in the refugee camp collapsed Sunday, hours after a mass breakout left 32militants dead, Lebanese security officials said, signaling an end to three months of fighting.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the last area of Nahr el-Bared camp held by Fatah Islam fighters fell to the army, which captured five wounded militants in their hideout.

Only occasional gunfire could be heard inside Nahr el-Bared, hours after the officials said the army killed 39 militants and captured at least 15 others when they broke out of the camp and attempted to flee.

But celebratory gunfire erupted in nearby villages as soon as the news spread. Dozens of residents took to the streets of Mohammara, waving Lebanese flags and honking their horns as troop convoys poured into the area with soldiers flashing victory signs.

The army, which said it lost five soldiers in the recent violence, was not ready to formally declare an end to fighting in the camp, large parts of which have been destroyed by army bombardments in the last three and a half months. The military said three soldiers were killed in Sunday's fighting and two on Saturday, raising to 158 the total number of troops who have died in the conflict.

A military statement early Sunday said troops were attacking the remaining militant strongholds inside Nahr el-Bared and chasing the fugitives outside the camp who had staged a desperate attempt to flee. It called on Lebanese citizens to inform the nearest army patrol of any suspected militants in their area, but gave no specifics on casualties except saying a large number had been killed or captured.

The gunbattles began with the breakout near dawn and tapered off by the afternoon, with troops searching for Fatah Islam fighters in buildings, fields and roads around Nahr el-Bared camp, residents reported.

Before Sunday's battle, Lebanese officials had said up to 70 Fatah Islam fighters remained in the camp. When the fighting erupted more than three months ago, the number was estimated at 360.

According to security officials and television reports, the breakout began when a group of militants sneaked through an underground tunnel to an area of the camp under army control and fought with troops. At the same time, another group of militants struck elsewhere to try to escape, reportedly receiving help from militants outside the camp.

State-run Lebanese television said the militants inside the camp were aided by outside fighters who arrived in civilian cars to attack army positions around the camp.

Residents said troop reinforcements deployed close to the camp and blocked roads to prevent fighters from sneaking out. Helicopters provided aerial reconnaissance.

Army officials and the senior security official said they did not know whether Fatah Islam leader Shaker al-Absi was among those who attempted to break out. Al-Absi has not been seen or heard since early in the fighting.

But Al-Jazeera television said al-Absi had escaped one army cordon and was within the second wider cordon, where troops were searching for him.

Al-Absi's deputy, Abu Hureira, was killed by security forces in Tripoli recently, apparently after escaping the siege.

Seven Red Cross and military ambulances raced out of the camp in the early afternoon, but it was not clear whether they were carrying militants or soldiers.

Zuheir Bahsa, who witnessed the fighting from the farming village of Mohammara, which sits on a hill overlooking the northern edge of Nahr el-Bared, said gunfire erupted from inside and outside the camp. Troops then searched the town's houses and olive groves for fugitives, added the 26-year-old carpenter.

A Lebanese soldier, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said a young militant armed with an AK-47 and hand grenades was captured hiding in the woods near Mohammara.

State television reported that Lebanese residents of nearby villages, armed with guns and sticks, fanned out to protect their houses and prevent militants from seeking refuge and melting into the local population. Smoke billowed from a field near the camp where residents said the army set fire to bushes to deny militants a hiding place.

Even in the Lebanese capital Beirut, over an hour's drive to the south, officials searched vehicles at military checkpoints set up on major streets. Other checkpoints were erected along the coastal highway linking the north with Beirut, causing traffic jams.

Fighting erupted May 20 between troops and Fatah Islam militants holed up in Nahr el-Bared camp near Tripoli, becoming Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-90 civil war. The battles have killed more than 20 civilians and scores of militants. Families of the militants - women and children - were evacuated late last month, the last civilians to leave the camp.

Prior to Sunday, the army had inched its way into the camp under artillery and rocket fire, destroying buildings and capturing militants' fortified positions one by one while facing tough resistance from the Islamic fighters.

In recent days, the army has cornered the militants in a small area of the camp and has been pounding it with bombs dropped by helicopters.
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Our Now gets shorter while I write and you read because someone is profiting.
  1.   This camp is a prison 14:17  |  Palestinian princess 02/09/07
  2.   My condolences 14:59  |  KUTW 02/09/07
  3.   Religion of Peace 16:11  |  Fred McCann 02/09/07
  4.   Bunch of hypocrites! 16:15  |  Eric 02/09/07
  5.   #1 Palestinian Princess 16:19  |  * BEN JABO 02/09/07
  6.   are u people ok in the head? 16:51  |  ziad 02/09/07
  7.   Good statement Eric 16:53  |  Abu Yusuf 02/09/07
  8.   #5 Lebanon is already 1/2 islamic radical island 17:28  |  Logic 02/09/07
  9.   #5 Eric: are you retarded!? 17:56  |  WWACD 02/09/07
  10.   Eric they`re ducking, waiting for the 18:11  |  ChanahS 02/09/07
  11.   to palestinian princess 18:34  |  gk 02/09/07
  12.   ziad 6,,,,,your the strange one 18:38  |  alan 02/09/07
  13.   Ziad 19:17  |  brad 02/09/07
  14.   They are heroes like Hamas 19:20  |  Palestinian princess 02/09/07
  15.   hmm 19:21  |  ziad 02/09/07
  16.   for ure info 19:24  |  ziad 02/09/07
  17.   4# Eric 19:33  |  Imad 02/09/07
  18.   #1 & #5 19:35  |  Outsider 02/09/07
  19.   alan vs Ziad 19:42  |  Imad 02/09/07
  20.   alan vs Ziad 19:42  |  Imad 02/09/07
  21.   To #14 19:52  |  Frank 02/09/07
  22.   Outsider 19:58  |  Imad 02/09/07
  23.   Pictures pls...BEFORE & AFTER 20:01  |  rich 02/09/07
  24.   Ziad 20:04  |  rich 02/09/07
  25.   Kudos to the brave Lebanese soldiers 20:06  |  KUTW 02/09/07
  26.   Hundred of innocent Palestinians were killed in Lebanese Army Ope 20:10  |  Dan 02/09/07
  27.   1. Palestinian princess: the poor terrorists 20:11  |  KUTW 02/09/07
  28.   brad 20:12  |  Imad 02/09/07
  29.   14. Palestinian princesa: Hamas = Fatah Al Islam = terrorists 20:16  |  KUTW 02/09/07
  30.   Palestinian Princess 20:17  |  Beirut 02/09/07
  31.   To Israly people & other supprted posters 20:21  |  Imad 02/09/07
  32.   Good, it is finally over 20:25  |  Mark Lincoln 02/09/07
  33.   # 1 and 14 Palestinian princess 20:43  |  martyrmaker 02/09/07
  34.   Bravo Leb Army, Bravo 20:53  |  jack 02/09/07
  35.   #22 Imad 21:19  |  Outsider 02/09/07
  36.   30. Imad: Hiz and the Pals 21:20  |  KUTW 02/09/07
  37.   to palestinian Princess 21:38  |  Goldenberg 02/09/07
  38.   # 1 Pal princess 21:44  |  Lynn 02/09/07
  39.   #36 Shiites and Christians in Lebanon 21:45  |  Outsider 02/09/07
  40.   # 14 They are garbage like Hamas 21:45  |  Lynn 02/09/07
  41.   # 30 Beirut, Bravo for the Army 21:47  |  Lynn 02/09/07
  42.   Siniora 22:02  |  Minority 02/09/07
  43.   Role Reversal? 22:03  |  Natallie Durson 02/09/07
  44.   Rats and crusaders 22:34  |  Palestinian princess 02/09/07
  45.   To: Mark Lincoln 22:35  |  zack 02/09/07
  46.   Mark Lincoln, hollywood director 22:37  |  FOX 02/09/07
  47.   Ziadism 22:52  |  Michael 02/09/07
  48.   Ziad, Hizbollah, and cronies 22:54  |  Michael 02/09/07
  49.   Durson 22:59  |  Greg 02/09/07
  50.   # 44 Pal Princess and Bruce Willis? 23:10  |  Lynn 02/09/07
  51.   answerring ZIAD 23:13  |  Joseph (Lebanese) 02/09/07
  52.   Why rebuild the "camp" 23:21  |  Avrum 02/09/07
  53.   Palestinian Princess 23:24  |  Beirut 02/09/07
  54.   Fatah al Islam. 23:26  |  sandra chitayat 02/09/07
  55.   # 44 Palestinian Princess 23:28  |  Outsider 02/09/07
  56.   Lebanon and Israel have same goals 23:29  |  sami 02/09/07
  57.   Lebanon should send all those Palistinians... 23:32  |  Reader 02/09/07
  58.   # 56 Sami 23:59  |  ChanahS 02/09/07
  59.   To Avrum 00:14  |  zack 03/09/07
  60.   Congratulations Lebanon 00:26  |  Jeff Northridge 03/09/07
  61.   Beirut Beirut Think Again 00:29  |  Reader 03/09/07
  62.   peace 00:31  |  Joseph (Lebanese) 03/09/07
  63.   Years and Tears in the Desert 00:54  |  Reader 03/09/07
  64.   39. Outsider: the Syrian jihad in Lebanon 01:00  |  KUTW 03/09/07
  65.   Impose on your Arab Neighbours No More 01:04  |  Reader 03/09/07
  66.   Zach 01:21  |  Avrum 03/09/07
  67.   Lebanese victory? 01:26  |  KNOE 03/09/07
  68.   Wahabi terrorist not palestinan refugee 01:30  |  tea man 03/09/07
  69.   Your censorship is our best monitor 01:30  |  Lebanese 03/09/07
  70.   #1 Imad 01:34  |  * BEN JABO 03/09/07
  71.   kutw you are not so cute one day your chistian one day your a jew 01:38  |  teflon moslem 03/09/07
  72.   #43 NUTallie Durson 01:41  |  * BEN JABO 03/09/07
  73.   #61 Reader 01:45  |  * BEN JABO 03/09/07
  74.   joseph lebanese french you want to join the tea party 01:50  |  tea man 03/09/07
  75.   Ziad what is it hezbollah is resisting? 01:57  |  Johnny 03/09/07
  76.   kus ukht il libnan 02:03  |  palestinian in UK 03/09/07
  77.   zack # 59 02:04  |  ChanahS 03/09/07
  78.   Jeff Northridge # 60 - to Ziad and Imad 02:07  |  ChanahS 03/09/07