Lebanon said on Friday it has issued an arrest warrant for the leader of the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamist militia Fatah al-Islam, whose fighters were engaged in a deadly 15-week battle with Lebanese soldiers in the north of the country.

Judge Ghassan Oweidat said the warrant has been issued against Palestinian Shaker al-Abssi, whose fate remains unknown, and 36 other fugitive militants.

Almost 400 people were killed, among them an estimated 222 militants and 168 soldiers, until fighting in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp outside Tripoli ended September 2 after a final assault by the army.