Beirut - Sunni fundamentalist group Fatah al-Islam said its leader may have been "captured or killed" and it has named his successor, local radios reported Wednesday.

Shaker al-Abssi and two other members of the group were ambushed in Syria while trying to meet with other Islamic militants from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Voice of Lebanon radio station quoted a Fatah al- Islam statement as saying.

The three were either captured or killed during the gunfight with members of the Syrian security forces, the radio said.

Abu Mohamad Awad had been named to succeed Abssi at the head of Fatah al-Islam, the group said.

According to the radio report, the statement, the authenticity of which has still not been confirmed, was posted on an Islamist website.

Fatah al-Islam fought a fierce three-month battle with the Lebanese Army in May 2007 in the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al- Bared, which left some 400 people dead, including 168 soldiers.

In November, Fatah al-Islam reportedly claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in Damascus that left 17 dead in September. (dpa)