NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - Islamist fighters besieged in a refugee camp in northern Lebanon on Sunday launched a failed attempt to escape from the camp but many were killed, captured or wounded, an army spokesman told AFP.

'The fighters attempted to escape from Nahr al-Bared but a large number of them were taken prisoner, killed or wounded,' the spokesman, who did not want to be identified, said.

'None of them managed to exit the camp and escape, as far as I know,' he added.

BUKAVU, DR Congo, Aug 2, 2007 (AFP) - Around 100 prisoners broke out of jail in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to protest food shortages, the prison's director told AFP on Thursday.

'114 out of a total 155 prisoners, mostly civilians, broke out of the central Uvira prison to protest the lack of food' on Wednesday, Munyanya Tiza, director of the prison in Uvira, Sud-Kivu province, told AFP.

Military prisoners, who had complained about food portions the previous day, helped to facilitate the escape by overcoming two guards and removing their weapons, he said.