BEIRUT, Lebanon - The leader of a Syrian Islamist group claimed in an audio tape aired Sunday that some al-Qaida-inspired militants have left a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon and hinted they will soon launch attacks.

Abu Jandal al-Dimashqi, the self-declared leader of Tawhid and Jihad in Syria, also mourned the death of Abu Hureira, the deputy leader of Fatah Islam, whose followers inside Nahr el-Bared camp have been battling the Lebanese army since May 20.

The government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora announced Aug. 6 that police in the northern port city of Tripoli near Nahr el-Bared had killed Abu Hureira, a Lebanese whose real name is Shehab al-Qaddour.

"The martyrdom of our brother Abu Hureira has fanned the flames," said al-Dimashqi in an audio tape posted on an Islamic Web site. "Let the government of traitor Saniora know that some of Fatah Islam's heroes have left the camp and are now among you. Wait for a black day."

The authenticity of the audio tape could not be verified, but it was posted on a Web site commonly used by Islamic militants.

Al-Dimashqi criticized residents of Abu Hureira's northern village of Mishmish for refusing to bury him in the town's cemetery because he fought against the army. Three of the 136 soldiers who have been killed fighting Fatah Islam were from Mishmish.

A senior army officer told The Associated Press that the military took the statement "seriously" and was analyzing it. But the officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the army's actions "are not based on statements posted on the Internet, but on military plans."

Fatah Islam has been blamed for past attacks inside Lebanon. Interior Minister Hassan Sabie has said that members of the group confessed to bombing two buses near Beirut in February that killed three people and wounded 20.

Also Sunday, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency announced that Lebanese troops discovered a tunnel in Nahr el-bared that included furnished rooms "that appear to have been residences for Fatah Islam officials." It reported that troops captured weapons and ammunition as well.

The Associated Press learned Saturday that U.S. President George W. Bush's administration has blacklisted Fatah Islam as a "foreign terrorist organization."

The U.S. State Department is expected to announce the designation on Monday.

The designation imposes financial and travel restrictions on the group and its members, officials said Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the designation is not yet public.

The Nahr el-Bared fighting has become Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-90 civil war. Besides the soldiers killed, an undetermined number of militants and more than 20 civilians have lost their lives.

The army has refused to halt its offensive until the militants completely surrender, but the gunmen have vowed to fight to the death. -Agencies