Northern Clashes Continue, Syria to Return Salafists’ Bodies

Local Editor

Fierce fighting in the Northern city, Tripoli continued for the third day Wednesday, as the death toll rose to seven people.
In details, sporadic clashes continued Thursday between the neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh. The National News Agency said that the armed clashes intensified during day hours between fighters in the areas of Qobbeh, al-Mankoubin, Mallouleh, Bab al-Tabbaneh, and Syria Street and others in Jabal Mohsen
This comes as residents of the two neighborhoods said they were being attacked and were defending themselves.
Abdel-Latif Saleh, the media official of the Arab Democratic Party, which is influential in Jabal Mohsen, said that his group had been obeying the Army's instructions. "But things spun out of control and we were forced to respond after the heavy gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades that hit us," he said.

Tensions had already been running high in Tripoli before reports that a group of Salafist fighters from the city had been killed in an ambush by the Syrian army.
A security official told Agence France Presse that sniper fire killed seven civilians in on Tuesday and Wednesday in the two rival districts.
The security official said four were killed on Wednesday, while three others died the day before.
"Khodr Hanoub, a man in his 40s, was killed at dawn Wednesday in the district of Bab al-Tabbaneh," the official said, adding that Ali Habbabeh was killed in the adjacent district of Jabal Mohsen.
The official also reported the killing in Bab al-Tabbaneh of Zakaria Othman and Mehdi al-Beik on Wednesday, while Khaled Salem, 27, was killed overnight.
They died a day after kiosk owner Mohammed Ibrahim, 65, was killed in Jabal Mohsen by a sniper operating from across the street-turned-front line separating the two impoverished neighborhoods.

Also on Tuesday, Bab al-Tabbaneh resident Abdul Rahman Nassouh was shot dead.The official reported 57 people wounded altogether, including two soldiers.

The Lebanese Army has been returning fire against the sources of gunshots. In its statement the LA announced its deployed units continued to boost security measures in Bab al-Tabbaneh, Jabal Mohsen and other areas that were witnessing intermittent sniper fire. The LA said it arrested five individuals on suspicion of opening fire and confiscated arms and ammunition in their possession.

Meanwhile, Future MP Mohammad Kabbara hosted a meeting for MPs, religious leaders and security figures at his home, where participants discussed efforts to calm the tension.
It is worth mentioning that the clashes broke out over the weekend in wake of the announcement of the death of Salafist fighters who infiltrated into Syria to join the rebels.

In parallel, Syrian Ambassador Ali Abdel-Karim Ali assured Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour that his country would hand over the bodies of the Salafists.
Ali told Mansour that the bodies of the dead would be delivered to Lebanon starting Saturday, in three rounds, within one week. The announcement was made by Ali during his meeting with Mansour and Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, the head of General Security.
For his part, President Michel Suleiman discussed efforts to retrieve the bodies of the Salafists with Nasri Khoury, the head of the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council, and Lebanon's ambassador to Syria, Michel Khoury.Suleiman highlighted the need to follow the Baabda Declaration, which called for distancing Lebanon from "conflicts of others and refraining from interfering in their internal affairs."

On another level, the Mufti of Tripoli and the North, Sheikh Malek Shaar, revealed he would stay abroad after receiving information that he could be the target of an assassination plot.
"Some security officials advised me to stay currently outside Lebanon," Shaar said in an interview with an-Nahar Lebanese daily.

Source: News agencies, Edited by moqawama.org