Lebanon seizes fugitive militants

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Lebanon's military says it has captured four Islamist militants two weeks after the army stormed a Palestinian refugee camp, ending a bloody 105-day siege.

The suspects include the rebel Fatah al-Islam group's spokesman, who was previously thought to have died during the stand-off, the military said.

The three other men were said to be from Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia.

Nearly 400 soldiers and militants died in the fighting at the Nahr al-Bared camp and 40,000 people were displaced.

The violence was Lebanon's worst internal strife since the 1975-1991 civil war.

DNA tests

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora declared victory over terrorism earlier this month, after the army took control of the camp following months of fighting.

Shaker al-Abssi set up Fatah al-Islam in northern Lebanon last yearTroops had been battling Fatah al-Islam militants since May but took the group's last positions after its remaining fighters fled in a desperate break-out bid.

The four men were detained near the northern city of Tripoli.

"Mohammed Saleh Dawawi, also known as Salim Abu Taha, was captured at dawn along with three other members of Fatah al-Islam in the Jabal Terbol region," an army spokesman said.

Abu Taha is a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Nablus, and also has Syrian citizenship.

Fatah al-Islam's leader Sheikh Shaker al-Abssi, also a Palestinian, remains unaccounted for.

DNA tests on a body earlier identified by Abssi's wife as his proved to be negative.