Clashes Resume in North Raising Death Toll to 6

Clashes Resume in North Raising Death Toll to 6

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23/06/2008 Clashes resumed overnight in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, namely in Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, although a ceasefire was announced in the city Sunday afternoon. A security official said that a 55-year-old man was killed early Monday by a stray bullet as he drove along the main highway linking Tripoli with Syria. Another man was also injured in the incident. News reports also said that a mortar shell fell in the heart of Tripoli, hitting the Grand Mansouri Mosque on Sunday evening. The clashes were taking place despite an agreement reached on Sunday between representatives of the feuding parties for fighters to keep off the streets and for the army to take charge of security. Tripoli's Mufti Malek al-Shaar hosted intensified meetings at his residence in the city in an effort to put an end to the clashes. Shaar called on the security forces to deploy in the area in force and react strictly to any security violation. On Sunday, at least four people were killed and 40 wounded when the fighting erupted between the loyalty bloc and the Arab Democratic Party. One of those wounded died on Monday, raising the death toll to six. Mortars, Rocket-Propelled Grenade launchers and automatic rifles were used in the confrontation, police reported. Local reporters in Tripoli said that the thuds of exploding RPGs and Mortar rounds echoed across the city early in the morning accompanied by staccato bursts of machine gun fire. ARAB DEMOCRATIC PARTY ABIDES BY AGREEMENT The Arab Democratic Party issued a statement after midnight in which it announced its commitment to the ceasefire agreement that was reached between the feuding parties, accusing the "other side" of not adhering to it and continuing shelling and sniping. The party called on the Lebanese Army leadership to work seriously to end this "irregular" situation, inviting the officials as well as the region clerics to stick to the agreement. The violence comes amid delay by Prime Minister Designate Fouad Saniora to form a government of national unity following a deal last month that ended an 18-month political crisis that brought the country close to civil war. Saniora, who is supposed to be the head of a caretaker government, will attend Monday a meeting in Vienna for donor countries to rebuild the Nahr al-Bared Refugee camp that was destroyed last year due to war between the Lebanese army and the Fatah al-Islam militant group.