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Leaders ink reconciliation agreement in northern Lebanon

Top politicians in northern Lebanon signed a reconciliation agreement on Monday calling for an end to the sectarian violence that has killed and wounded scores in the past three months.

  • AP
  • Published: 19:59 September 9, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Sa'ad Hariri signs the reconciliation agreement, as Fouad Siniora (centre) and Shaikh Malek (right), look on, in Tripoli. Top politicians in northern Lebanon signed the agreement on Monday.
  • Image Credit: AP

Beirut: Top politicians in northern Lebanon signed a reconciliation agreement on Monday calling for an end to the sectarian violence that has killed and wounded scores in the past three months.

The six-point agreement calls for abstaining from force, the deployment of the army to tense areas and a timetable for the return of displaced people.

It also calls for finding temporary homes for those whose houses were damaged, as well as compensation, mainly for people in Lebanon's second city of Tripoli.

The agreement was signed by more than a dozen Sunni and Alawite leaders at the residence of the grand mufti of north Lebanon, Shaikh Malek Al Sha'ar, who has been acting as a mediator since the fighting began.

Tripoli, 90km north of Beirut, has been the scene of sectarian clashes between Sunnis and followers of the Alawite sect killing and wounding dozens.

Parliament majority leader Sa'ad Hariri, the country's most powerful Sunni leader, has been staying in Tripoli for the past three days and meeting officials from different groups to help reach the agreement. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora went from Beirut to Tripoli to witness the signing ceremony on Monday night.

"Tripoli should be a city without weapons because weapons in the hands of individuals do not protect anyone," Siniora said before inking deal.

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