Abu Nidal gunmen in Lebanese camp battle

Supporters of dead terrorist Abu Nidal clashed with Lebanese troops in a Palestinian refugee camp today, leaving at least nine people wounded.

The clash broke out when troops entered the Jalil refugee camp, outside Baalbek, east Lebanon, in search of a wanted man.

The soldiers pulled down a wall of the offices of Fatah-Revolutionary Council, the group founded by Abu Nidal, the terrorist leader who died mysteriously in Iraq two weeks ago, said a security officer.

The troops also seized two truckloads of arms, the officer added.

The shooting subsided after about two hours, but it flared up after the army blocked all approaches to the camp in the Bekaa Valley, 60 miles east of Beirut.

Abu Nidal, whose real name was Sabri al-Banna, was found dead of a gunshot to the head in Baghdad. The Iraqi government said he committed suicide rather than face trial for communicating with a foreign country, but his group accused Iraqi intelligence of assassinating him.

Abu Nidal led one of the most ruthless of Palestinian militant factions. It killed at least 275 people in a campaign of terror that spanned several continents.

His group denied yesterday that he was involved in the Lockerbie bombing.