Tripoli Lebanon – Lebanon Bloodiest Fighting In Decades.

Tripoli Lebanon – At least 48 people have been killed in Lebanon’s bloodiest fighting since the 1975-90 civil war.

Fatah al-Islam is linked to al Qaeda Lebanese troops have been battling with al Qaeda-linked militants based in a Palestinian refugee camp.

Soldiers, militants and civilians died in the clashes, which erupted before dawn at the Nahr al-Bared camp and spread into the nearby Sunni Muslim city of Tripoli.

A cabinet minister said the fighting involves Fatah al-Islam, which the government says is backed by Syria.

He said it seemed timed to try to derail UN moves to set up an international court to try those suspected of carrying out political killings in Lebanon.

The soldiers were killed at Nahr al-Bared just north of Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city, and in an attack on an army patrol.