BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanese troops captured the spokesman for an extremist group and three other militants on Saturday, about two weeks after the army crushed the fighters in a Palestinian refugee camp, a military spokesman said.
The army defeated Fatah Islam after a three-month-long siege. Lebanese troops have since combed areas around the Nahr el-Bared camp for militants who may have escaped during a final desperate breakout attempt on Sept. 2 when more than 50 fighters were killed and two dozen detained.
The spokesman, Abu Salim Taha, was captured in the countryside outside Nahr el-Bared near another Palestinian refugee camp, Beddawi.
A military spokesman, who requested anonymity until an official statement was issued, said Taha was a Palestinian-Syrian from the refugee camp of Yarmouk in Syria, and three other militants were captured with him.
An army statement said the other three men were from Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia and that an investigation is under way.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of intelligence information, said some escaped militants were trying to reach and seek refugee in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh.
Fatah Islam set up base in Nahr el-Bared late last year. Its leader, Shaker al-Absi, is a Palestinian linked to the late leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Authorities say Fatah Islam is made up of Muslim militants of various nationalities.
The government has said 222 militants were killed in the fighting and more than 200 were arrested, while a total of 167 Lebanese soldiers died. More arrests have been made in recent days as authorities, helped by locals, caught some escapees.
Meanwhile, al-Absi's wife recanted on Saturday her earlier testimony that a body she had viewed in the hospital was that of her husband, court officials said.
The woman, during interrogation with investigating magistrate Ghassan Oweidat, said her earlier identification might have been mistaken, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Even before her recanting, DNA test results on the body purporting to be that of al-Absi showed it was another man in his 30s, while al-Absi is 53, the officials added.
Authorities have said al-Absi had fled the camp hours before the army took over and was believed to be still at large after.
Fatah Islam's No. 2, Abu Hureira, was killed in a shootout with security forces in Tripoli near Nahr el-Bared more than a month ago after he fled the army's siege of the camp. But none of the group's senior leaders are in custody.
The army defeated Fatah Islam after a three-month-long siege. Lebanese troops have since combed areas around the Nahr el-Bared camp for militants who may have escaped during a final desperate breakout attempt on Sept. 2 when more than 50 fighters were killed and two dozen detained.
The spokesman, Abu Salim Taha, was captured in the countryside outside Nahr el-Bared near another Palestinian refugee camp, Beddawi.
A military spokesman, who requested anonymity until an official statement was issued, said Taha was a Palestinian-Syrian from the refugee camp of Yarmouk in Syria, and three other militants were captured with him.
An army statement said the other three men were from Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia and that an investigation is under way.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of intelligence information, said some escaped militants were trying to reach and seek refugee in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh.
Fatah Islam set up base in Nahr el-Bared late last year. Its leader, Shaker al-Absi, is a Palestinian linked to the late leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Authorities say Fatah Islam is made up of Muslim militants of various nationalities.
The government has said 222 militants were killed in the fighting and more than 200 were arrested, while a total of 167 Lebanese soldiers died. More arrests have been made in recent days as authorities, helped by locals, caught some escapees.
Meanwhile, al-Absi's wife recanted on Saturday her earlier testimony that a body she had viewed in the hospital was that of her husband, court officials said.
The woman, during interrogation with investigating magistrate Ghassan Oweidat, said her earlier identification might have been mistaken, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Even before her recanting, DNA test results on the body purporting to be that of al-Absi showed it was another man in his 30s, while al-Absi is 53, the officials added.
Authorities have said al-Absi had fled the camp hours before the army took over and was believed to be still at large after.
Fatah Islam's No. 2, Abu Hureira, was killed in a shootout with security forces in Tripoli near Nahr el-Bared more than a month ago after he fled the army's siege of the camp. But none of the group's senior leaders are in custody.
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