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TRIPOLI, Lebanon – The uprising in Syria fueled intense clashes in neighboringLebanon for a third day Monday, with gunmen firing assault riflesand rocket-propelled grenades as sectarian tensions spilled acrossthe border. At least four people have been killed in Lebanon's second-largestcity, Tripoli, since the gunbattles erupted late Saturday. Lebanonand Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties andrivalries, which are easily enflamed. The revolt in Syria began 14 months ago, and there are fears theunrest could lead to a regional conflagration that could draw inneighboring countries. The U.N. estimates the conflict has killedmore than 9,000 people since March 2011. Syria is overwhelmingly Sunni, but the country's President BasharAssad and the ruling elite belong to the minority Alawite sect. Theuprising has exacerbated Sunni-Alawite tensions in Lebanon, aswell, sparking the clashes in the northern Lebanese city ofTripoli. The clashes began late Saturday after authorities detained Lebanesenational Shadi Mawlawi, an outspoken critic of Assad. Militaryprosecutor Saqr Saqr charged Mawlawi on Monday and five others,including a Qatari, a Palestinian and a Jordanian with belonging toan armed group and carrying out armed acts inside and outsideLebanon, judicial officials said. The officials spoke on conditionof anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media. The arrests apparently enraged the Sunni population supporting theuprising, and clashes soon erupted between Sunni fighters andAlawites who support Assad. Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbani neighborhood is overwhelmingly Sunni andposters supporting the Syrian opposition hang on walls, andpictures of a local activist shot by a sniper in similar clashes inFebruary read "Greetings to the free martyrs of Syria" and bear theSyrian revolutionary flag. The fighters are clear about the root of the conflict that has themshooting at their neighbors. "Syria. It wants it this way. It wants to start a battle here so itcan say, look, even in Lebanon the Sunnis are killing theAlawites," said Mustafa Nashar, 35, whose family lives in anapartment overlooking Syria Street, which cuts through theneighborhood. Groups of men, many of them carrying assault rifles and wearingmilitary-style vests ducked Monday through trash-strewn alleys. Theresidents who have remained in the neighborhood take cues fromfighters about when to sprint across alleys to evade the snipers upthe hill. A car with children crouching in the back sped past one alley, abullet pinging the pavement right behind it. The Lebanese army set up a small position a few hundred meters awayfrom the fighting, but there was no sign of soldiers or police inthe immediate area. Resident fighter Mohammed Jaber, 49, said such local fighting inTripoli has been going on for decades and that the Syria unrest setthem off again. "The old has become new," he said. "Once the Syrian revolutionstarted we supported all efforts to get rid of the regime." Syria's uprising started in March 2011 with protests calling forpolitical reform, but a relentless government crackdown led many inthe opposition to take up arms. Some soldiers also have switchedsides and joined forces with the rebels. World powers have backed the peace plan for Syria, which was putforward by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, but the bloodshed hasnot stopped. More than 100 U.N. observers have been deployed inSyria to oversee the truce between the government and armed rebels. On Monday, Syrian troops shelled the rebel-held town of Rastan,sparking intense clashes that sent bloodied victims flooding intohospitals and clinics, activists said. The violence in the restive central Homs province and elsewherearound Syria is eroding Annan's peace plan that many see as thelast hope to calm the crisis. An amateur video showed a young girl who apparently sufferedshrapnel wounds in her thigh undergoing treatment in a makeshiftRastan hospital while screaming in pain. Asked where her motherwas, the girl cries: "She died!" Another video showed four dead menhalf their bodies covered in a green sheet. Rastan, just north of Homs, has been under rebel control sinceJanuary. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights andthe activist network called the Local Coordination Committees saidthe latest shelling of Rastan started on Sunday. Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, said the rebels wereable to destroy several army vehicles during the clashes and killsoldiers. The accounts could not be independently confirmed. The attack on Rastan came after Syrian forces killed at least fivepeople when they raided a Sunni farming village in Hama province,torching homes and looting shops in what appeared to be a sign ofworsening relations among the country's religious groups. Also Monday, the Observatory and the LCC said government troopsstormed the Damascus suburb of Qaboun where they conducted raidsand deployed snipers on roofs of buildings. In Brussels, The European Union imposed visa bans and asset freezesagainst three people associated with Assad's government. Themeasure brings to 128 the number of Assad's supporters targeted bythe bloc. In Damascus, state-run TV said the results of last week'sparliamentary elections will be made public Tuesday. The governmenthas praised the vote as a milestone in promised political reforms,but the opposition boycotted the polls and said they were designedto strengthen Assad's grip on power. ____ Mroue reported from Beirut. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Amino Acids Powder , Food Additives Thickeners Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Food Additives Preservatives.
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