New clashes as Lebanon army tightens siege

NAHR AL-BARED (AFP) - The thud of shells and the rattle of machinegun fire reverberated around a Palestinian camp in Lebanon where fighting erupted again on Sunday between troops and Islamist gunmen as a deadly standoff entered its third week.

Backed by tanks and military helicopters, the army has tightened its siege around the squalid Nahr al-Bared camp where militiamen from the Fatah al-Islam group are still holding out despite the army's superior fire power.

Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on Saturday warned the militants to surrender or be wiped out after two days of the fiercest gunbattles since the fighting erupted in northern Lebanon on May 20.