Other Palestinian factions, including Hamas, have distanced themselves from Fatah Islam, though Hamas was trying to broker a truce.

The assault on Nahr el-Bared, if it continues, raises the prospect of unrest among the more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon - more than 215,000 of whom live in 12 impoverished refugee camps. Lebanese officials cannot enter the camps under a 1969 agreement that gave the Palestine Liberation Organization authority over them.

The battle was sparked Sunday when police raided suspected Fatah Islam hideouts in several buildings in Tripoli, searching for men wanted in a bank robbery. A gunbattle erupted and troops were called in. Then militants burst out of the nearby refugee camp, attacking army positions.

Lebanese troops later laid siege to the refugee camp, unleashing fire from tanks, artillery and heavy machine guns. At least 27 soldiers and 20 militants were killed Sunday. Two more soldiers were killed Monday night when a mortar fired from inside camp struck their vehicle.

Lebanese in Tripoli cheered the Lebanese troops Sunday, a reflection of the anger over militants in the camp - and of lingering bitterness toward Palestinians, whom some blame for sparking the civil war.

But on Monday, the tone was more subdued. Many of the streets in Tripoli near the camp were empty, with shops closed and residents remaining inside to avoid getting hit by fire from the camp.

Fighting paused briefly in the afternoon to allow the evacuation of 18 wounded civilians, according to Saleh Badran, an official with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. But the fierce fighting quickly resumed.

After nightfall, fires could be seen burning inside the camp. A Palestinian medical official said two mosques where civilians had taken refuge were hit by shelling Monday and there were casualties. One report from inside the camp said 14 civilians were killed Sunday, though another put the toll at five. None of the reports could be independently confirmed.

A Lebanese officer at the front line said the bombardment was targeting only buildings known to house militants or sites from which militants fired.

But Lebanese sympathetic to the Palestinians expressed fears over the battle's fallout. Bilal Shaaban, leader of an Islamic fundamentalist group in Tripoli, said people in the camp "are not getting food or water. The wounded are left on the streets."

"Lebanon is facing total collapse," Shaaban said. "Everything is going to collapse on everyone's heads."

1

2