Meanwhile, army gunners pounded Fatah al-Islam outposts with 155-mm howitzers and tank cannons shattering their sniping nests in a tiny enclave close to the center of Nahr al-Bared.

Army gunners, however, observed an undeclared lull at noontime to enable believers perform their Friday prayers at mosques close to fortified bunkers by the terrorists, field reporters said.

As mosque minarets blared the Allah Akbar call for prayers, army gunners halted their shelling of Fatah al-Islam outposts, although the terrorists led by Palestinian-Jordanian Shaker Abssi maintained shooting at army lines, the reporters added.

The army command, in a communiqué, said its troops are "gradually controlling the terrorists' positions with the aim of finishing off the bizarre situation that has been imposed on Lebanon."

The Army Command, the communiqué added, "adheres to safeguarding the security and dignity of Lebanese citizens and Palestinian brethren."

It said Abssi's terrorists "have no other option but to face justice."

Fighting flared around 8:00 am when the terrorists opened up at army lines with mortars, machine guns, Rocket-propelled Grenades and assault rifles.

On Thursday a spokesman for the Abssi terrorists known as Shahine Shahine said: "We will widen the scope of the attacks beyond Nahr al-Bared" if the army continues its "destructive bombardment."

Reports emerged on Friday that some of the militants who had been captured had told interrogators that among their targets were troops of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

A strengthened 12,700-member U.N. peacekeeping force is patrolling the Israeli border in the south under the terms of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 which halted last summer's war between Israel and Hizbullah.

A judicial source said on Friday that, "in the course of interrogations, some members of Fatah al-Islam testified that one of the principal aims of their group was to militarily attack UNIFIL operating in south Lebanon."

The source said they had spoken of being "indoctrinated" against Christians, depicted as crusaders, as well as against Shiites and leading Sunni figures, such as MPs, ministers and senior officials, considered to be "infidels."

In their view, the source said, "Lebanon's political system, as well as anyone who participates in it, is ungodly, and it is just, from a religious point of view, to fight them."

UNIFIL spokesman Milos Strugar said he was aware of statements by Fatah al-Islam as well as other statements made by different Al-Qaida leaders.

"We take these statements seriously, but we have full trust in the Lebanese authorities and armed forces, who are responsible for law and order in the country."

The Lebanese authorities have demanded that the Fatah al-Islam militants, estimated at around 100 and entrenched in Nahr al-Bared, surrender, particularly those blamed for killing 27 soldiers on May 20 when the confrontation broke out.

But Shahine said most of the wanted men had been killed or wounded and that "very few of them are still taking part in the fight."

As the fighting continued, a Lebanese man was killed and three Syrian workers were wounded in a car bombing Thursday night outside a factory in the Christian area of Zouk Mosbeh, about 20 kilometers (13 miles) north of Beirut, police said.

More than eight bombings and grenade attacks have been reported in and around Beirut since May 20, when the clashes broke out in the northern town of Tripoli.

More than 100 people, including 48 soldiers, have been killed in the confrontation.

Source: Naharnet