Lebanese Army deployed as violence toll rises to 9

Tripoli, Lebanon: The Lebanese army deployed on Saturday to halt two days of heavy sectarian fighting in the northern city of Tripoli which medical sources said had killed nine people.

Soldiers, backed by armoured vehicles, took up positions between Sunni and Alawite districts of the city in an effort to stop clashes which have wounded at least 68 people and forced residents to flee their homes. The sides exchanged heavy grenade and machinegun fire until dawn.

A correspondent said that around 60 army vehicles fanned across Tripoli and that the shooting had died down.

In the past two months, at least 22 people have been killed in the predominantly Sunni city in sectarian fighting blamed by politicians and analysts on political turbulence in Lebanon.

The Lebanese army, which often takes on a policing role, said in a statement it would not tolerate any security violations "even if that requires the use of force in all its means". One soldier was among the wounded.

The dead included a woman, a boy and a man who was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade while driving his taxi.

"It's unacceptable for Tripoli and its poor and deprived districts to keep paying the price of escalating internal political crisis," Economy Minister Mohammad Safadi, a Sunni politician from Tripoli, said in a statement.

The bouts of violence in the city since late June have been linked to lingering disputes between the Sunni-led parliamentary majority bloc and a rival alliance led by Hezbollah, which is close to Alawite groups in the north.

A protracted political conflict between the sides was largely resolved in May by a Qatari-mediated deal.

But they are now at odds over the policy statement of a national unity government which was finally formed on July 11 after weeks of wrangling over portfolios. Language in the policy statement regarding Hezbollah's army is the main area of disagreement.

Hezbollah used its weapons in May to briefly seize Beirut, a move that helped Hezbollah impose the opposition's terms for a settlement with rivals, including Sunni politician Sa'ad Al Hariri, a strong opponent of Syrian influence in Lebanon who has wide influence in Tripoli.

The Alawite faith is a small offshoot of Shiite Islam and its adherents are mostly based in Syria, which is ruled by President Bashar Al Assad, himself an Alawite.

An army statement said the troops "will use force if necessary to protect civilians and their property and bar armed presence" on the streets.

Casualties

A 10-year-old boy and two women were among those killed on Friday while 50 other people were wounded after two attempts to secure a ceasefire.

"The army is working for real calm in the north," an army official told AFP, but added: "Security requires political agreement."

Tripoli MP Mohammad Kabbara agreed.

"The government is responsible for keeping the peace ... but we see that the officials have resigned their duties and turned their backs on Tripoli," he said in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency.

Kabbara said the violence that has wracked his city should be addressed in "a special clause in government policy" being drafted by Cabinet ministers to ensure a lasting ceasefire.

"Will the clashes break out again each time there is a political row in the capital," he asked.

"What is the price they want Tripoli to pay in order to stop the bloodbath," he added after a meeting of local political and religious leaders.

"This is a political conflict between the Lebanese. Rather than go to the constitutional institutions they are reverting to the use of weapons," the army official said.

Ali Darwish, 63, a Bab Al Tebbaeh resident, said he spent Friday night with his three children and 14 grandchildren in a classroom without electricity.

"We are anxiously awaiting the army to bring back calm and stability, so we can go home. The situation in the school is unbearable."

In Friday's violence a rocket-propelled grenade slammed into an apartment building near a vegetable market, setting it ablaze, while another one hit a mosque in Bab Al Tebbaeh.

Interior Minister Ziad Barud and the head of the internal security forces Ashraf Rifi visited Tripoli late on Friday to assess measures to restore calm.

Clashes between the two sides have killed a total of 23 people and wounded more than 100 since June.

Bab Al Tebbaeh is a stronghold of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority while the inhabitants of Jabal Mohsen mainly support the Syrian-backed opposition led by Hezbollah.

Tension between the two communities date back to 1975-1990 civil war.