NAHR AL-BARED - The leader of Islamist militants besieged for more than three months in a north Lebanon refugee camp probably managed to flee the camp on Sunday, an army officer said.
"We believe that Shaker al-Abssi is part of a group that managed to escape," the officer, who did not want to be named, told AFP. "We can confirm that he is not among the militants killed or those taken prisoner."
According to the army and security sources, at least 28 of the Fatah al-Islam militants were killed Sunday and about 15 were captured as they made a desperate bid to flee Nahr al-Bared camp near the northern city of Tripoli.
The army officer said that at about 3:30 am (0030 GMT) the militants attempted to break out on three fronts.
One group tried to escape by sea and were killed or captured by the army. A second group tried to flee from the north and met the same fate, the officer said.
Abssi is believed to have been part of a third group that followed the path of a river that runs from the southeastern part of the camp to the village of Ayun al-Samak, located in a remote mountainous region.
Several members of that group were killed, but several escaped and the army was still combing fields and orchards in Ayun al-Samak and areas around the camp on Sunday.
An army spokesman said it was unclear whether Abssi had fled the camp as there have been reports in the past that he was dead or had escaped.
The standoff between the army and the Al-Qaeda-inspired militants began on May 20 and has left more than 220 people dead, including 156 soldiers.
Most of the camp's 31,000 residents fled at the start of the fighting.
09/02/2007 13:00 GMT