A wounded Lebanese soldier is carried to a Red Cross ambulance after clashes with Fatah al-Islam group in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, May 20, 2007. Lebanese troops battled al Qaeda-linked militants based in a Palestinian refugee camp on Sunday and 38 people were killed in Lebanon's bloodiest internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIRUT, May 20 (Xinhua) -- A deadly fighting between the Lebanese army and militants on Sunday in the northern city of Tripoli, which has so far left 30 dead and thus becomes one of Lebanon's bloodiest internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war, arose concern for the country's stability.

    Death toll from the deadly fighting between the Lebanese army and militants from the radical Palestinian faction of Fatah al-Islam around the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in northern Tripoli rose to 30, which includes 13 Lebanese soldiers, according to latest reports.

    In the wake of the incident, the Lebanese Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt expressed fears that what is happening in north Lebanon is the beginning of something bigger and more dangerous.

    Lebanon's Prime minister Fouad Seniora said that targeting the army by Fatah al-Islam is a very dangerous development aimed to disrupt law and order in the country.

    In the meantime, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi in the cabinet of Seniora described what happened in the day as a "programmed, preplanned and dangerous development."

    Ahmad Fatfat, Minister of Youth and Sports, said the violent action of Fatah al-Islam, which some government officials say is backed by Syria, seemed timed to derail UN moves to set up an international court to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

    Speaking to Lebanon's pro-government Future TV, Fatfat said: "There is someone trying to create security chaos to convey to the world such message: if the tribunal is established, there will be security trouble in Lebanon."

    The United States, France and Britain, three veto-wielding powers on the 15-member panel, circulated on Thursday night a draft resolution that would endorse an agreement signed earlier by the United Nations and the Lebanese government on the establishment of the court.

    The move came after Premier Seniora sent on Monday a letter officially requesting the United Nations Security Council to move on the tribunal issue.

    The country's parliamentary majority have long called for the establishment of the tribunal, but the pro-opposition have refused such a court, which they termed as a western scheme to interfere with the country's affair.

    Anti-Syrian politicians in Lebanon have blamed Syria for Hariri' s killing in Beirut in February 2005, but Syria has denied any involvement.

    After Sunday's fighting, Syria closed two of its border crossings into northern Lebanon because of the security situation there, according to an official Syrian statement, only one main crossing remained open. Syria also denies any link to Fatah al-Islam.

    The fighting started at dawn after security forces raided homes in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in Tripoli to arrest suspects in a bank robbery happened one day ago during which four masked gunman robbed a bank in the northern town of Amioun and made off with 125,000 U.S. dollars in cash.

    Some 30,000 displaced Palestinians live at the camp, which the military is banned from entering under a 38-year-old deal. Militants from radical Palestinian faction of Fatah al-Islam then attacked army posts at the refugee camp, where they are based.

    The fighting is still going on, according to local Arabia TV station, which quoted the army as saying, so far 30 people, including 13 Lebanese soldiers were killed.

    The fighting, which involved tank and grenade fire, also injured some civilians, including children, who were now trapped inside the camp, the TV station reported.

    The Nahr el-Bared camp has been under scrutiny since two bus bombings in a Christian area in northern Beirut in February. Police had arrested a number of members of the Islamic faction based in the camp in connection with the twin bus bombings, which killed and wounded at least 20 people.

    A Fatah al-Islam spokesman, Abu Salim, told Al-Jazeera television that the group was only defending itself.