BEIRUT - The body of the number two in the Islamist group that engaged in fierce fighting this week with the Lebanese army was found on Wednesday at the entrance to the Palestinian refugee camp where the battle took place, a security official said.
The man was identified only as Boumedien, and the source gave no details on his nationality.
"Civil defence workers, in cooperation with the Lebanese army, which is encircling the camp, discovered the bodies of seven fighters from Fatah al-Islam, one of which was that of Boumedien," the source said.
Fatah al-Islam is the Al-Qaeda-inspired Sunni Muslim group that battled the army for three days at the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon until declaring a unilateral truce on Tuesday.
The group is led by a Palestinian, Shaker Abssi, but is said to count people from various Arab countries among its ranks.
Earlier Wedneday, Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Murr said in remarks on Al-Arabiya television that between 50 and 60 Fatah al-Islam guerrillas had been killed in the fighting.
According to previous reports, raging gunbattles around the camp and in Tripoli killed 68 people, including 18 guerrillas, 30 soldiers, 19 Palestinian refugees and one Lebanese civilian.
05/23/2007 18:11 GMT