(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-03 10:13

Lebanese troops on armoured personnel carriers advance into the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in north Lebanon September 2, 2007. At least 20 Islamist militants were killed in a battle with the Lebanese army on Sunday when the fighters tried to flee a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon, a security source said. [Reuters]

The fate of Fatah Islam's leader, Shaker al-Absi, was not immediately clear. A senior security official said a cleric recognized a body in a nearby government hospital as that of al-Absi. Authorities sent for his wife to identify the body while a DNA test was being conducted.

Al-Absi, a Palestinian linked to the late leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has not been seen or heard from since early in the fighting.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in villages when news of Fatah Islam's collapse spread. Relieved townspeople and troops celebrated in the streets, waving Lebanese flags and flashing victory signs.

The joy cut through the deep political divisions in the country, with supporters of both the government and opposition praising the army. President Emile Lahoud said the army "has achieved what superpowers could not in confronting terrorism."

In Mohammara, residents honked car horns and threw rice as convoys of Lebanese troops poured into the area with soldiers atop armored vehicles flashing victory signs. Two residents carried a soldier on their shoulders while other villagers danced to the beat of drums on a highway.

"My joy cannot be described," said Fawziyeh Alameddine, a 45-year-old mother of six who was running on the street with others to celebrate. "This is our army, protector of Lebanon. They've protected us from the terrorists, those criminals who have destroyed our country."

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