Lebanon's authorities announce deputy commander of al-Qaida-inspired militants Abu Hureira is killed

Lebanon's authorities announced Monday the deputy commander of al-Qaida-inspired militants who stayed in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon was killed.

Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said Abu Hureira, a Lebanese whose real name is Shehab al-Qaddour, was killed few days ago by police in the northern port city of Tripoli, near the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared where Fatah Islam militants have been fighting Lebanese soldiers for more than two months.

"Cabinet was informed by Interior Minister Hassan Sabei that Lebanese security forces have killed the Fatah Islam's No. 2 in the Abu Samra neighborhood" in Tripoli, Aridi told reporters following a Cabinet meeting Monday night.

The whereabouts of Fatah Islam leader Shaker Youssef Absi and Abu Hureira have been unknown since fighting at the Nahr el-Bared camp erupted on May 20.

Monday's announcement marked the first official announcement that Abu Hureira had been killed. Absi's whereabouts remain unknown.