No US Senate immigration vote until June

NAHR AL-BARED (AFP) - Islamist guerrillas who have been locked in three days of ferocious gunbattles with Lebanese troops said on Tuesday they would observe a unilateral ceasefire amid mounting concern over civilians caught up in the conflict.

"We have announced through the media that we are ready to respect a ceasefire, starting at 1130 GMT on Tuesday, and we hope the Lebanese army will accept our offer in order to help end the suffering of civilians in Nahr al-Bared," said Fatah al-Islam spokesman Abu Sali Taha.

The moved came after a lull in fighting around Nahr al-Bared, an impoverished Palestinian refugee camp that has been turned into a war zone under a barrage of Lebanese tank and artillery fire aimed at crushing the Al-Qaeda-inspired band of militants.