The security official confirmed a report in Lebanon's An-Nahar newspaper that police have turned up evidence of Fatah Islam's involvement in the death of former Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements, said interrogations of Fatah Islam detainees show that the al-Qaida-inspired group was involved in the assassination.

He said details would soon be made public and already have been shared with a U.N. commission investigating Gemayel's death and a string of other assassinations, including the February 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Lebanon's ruling coalition has implied that Syria was behind the assassinations. Syria, which denies the allegations, long controlled Lebanon until its military was forced to pull out in 2005 because of international pressure in the wake of Hariri's death.

Lebanese government officials also accuse Syria of backing Fatah Islam to stir up trouble here. Syria denies the claim, saying it considers Fatah Islam a dangerous terrorist organization.

Gemayel was shot dead at an intersection north of Beirut on Nov. 21, 2006.

A Lebanese cabinet minister, Ahmed Fatfat, told the satellite TV station Al-Arabiya that Fatah Islam's involvement in Gemayel's assassination is "much clearer" than before, but that investigations were continuing.

Asked if there were other suspects, Fatfat said: "Unfortunately it looks like it is confined to Fatah Islam, and, behind it unfortunately, are hands linked to Syrian intelligence agencies."

Fatah Islam has been fighting army troops at the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon since May 20. Authorities also accuse the group of carrying out the Feb. 13 bombings of two commuter buses in the Christian heartland north of Beirut, which killed three people. The group has denied involvement in the bombings.

Lebanon's defense minister said last month that about 40 Fatah Islam militants have been arrested, including some suspected of links with al-Qaida.

More than 160 people, including 84 soldiers, have been killed in the Nahr el-Bared fighting, the worst internal violence since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

On Saturday, the army renewed its call for the militants inside Nahr el-Bared to surrender and "avoid more bloodshed and limit moral and material losses."

Fatah Islam, led by a Palestinian refugee, is believed to be made up of mostly foreign Sunni Muslim fighters.

Source: AP