A Lebanese soldier has been killed by sniper fire from inside a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon where militants have been holed up for weeks, a senior military official said Wednesday. His death came amid signs the army was preparing to launch a major assault to crush Fatah Islam fighters hiding inside the Nahr el-Bared camp, after repeated calls on them to surrender were rejected, the Associated Press reported. Witnesses said the army was bringing in heavy reinforcements to the area of the camp near the northern port city of Tripoli, suggesting a fresh assault was imminent. Also on Wednesday, three ambulances belonging to the Palestinian Red Crescent society entered the besieged camp to evacuate civilians still trapped inside who wished to leave.
