DUBAI, Aug 14, 2007 (AFP) - An Islamic extremist leader said in an Internet audio statement that some militants besieged in a refugee camp by Lebanese troops had escaped to plot further attacks, a monitoring group said on Tuesday.

Abu Jandal al-Damashqui, leader of Tawhid Wal Jihad in Al-Sham (Syria), warned the "apostate" Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora that "some of the heroes of Fatah al-Islam have left the camp and now they are among you and have penetrated your lines," the US-based SITE Intelligence Group reported.

"Await for a black day and an aimed sword...they will ambush you," added Damashqui, who leads a militant group which claims to represent the Levant region including Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

Fatah al-Islam, designated on Monday as a "terrorist" group by the US State Department, has been locked in deadly conflict with Lebanese forces in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon since May 20.

The shadowy Islamic extremist group has denied charges that it is linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda, but has admitted that it shares ideological ties with the network.

A Lebanese soldier was killed on Monday in fighting at the camp a day after the Lebanese army rejected a conditional offer of surrender by Fatah al-Islam group and demanded that the militants give themselves up to stand trial.

His death took to 136 the number of troops killed at Nahr al-Bared since May 20. The present toll of more than 200 people does not include the overall number of militant dead which is unknown.

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