Lebanese soldiers fire at Islamist protesters

Hezbollah currently dominates the government in Lebanon and is supported by Damascus and Tehran Beirut – George Shahin Two people were killed when fighting erupted overnight in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between members of the Alawite minority loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and members of the Sunni majority, witnesses and security officials said on Sunday.
Rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles were used in the fighting in an Alawite enclave and surrounding Sunni neighbourhoods in the port city, 70 km (44 miles) north of Beirut.
“The clashes peaked at dawn. The sound of gunfire is still echoing in the city,” a Lebanese security official said.
The fighting underlines how sectarian tensions in Syria could spill over to neighbouring Lebanon.
A small Alawite minority are concentrated in Tripoli, a conservative Sunni city where many residents have been enraged by Assad’s crackdown on the 14-month revolt against 42 years of rule by the Assad family and their Alawite establishment.
Syria’s Sunni majority are at the forefront of the uprising against Assad, whose sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
Lebanese soldiers on Saturday night also clashed with Islamists who were demonstrating in the northern city demanding the release of one of their "terrorist" suspects.
Two people sustained injuries in the clashes in the city's Abdel-Hamid Karami Square.
The protesters, supporters of the revolt against the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, tried to approach an office of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, a pro-Assad Lebanese party, when the shooting took place.
The shootings also targeted a patrol of the army's intelligence service in Bab el-Tebbeneh, according to several media sources.
About 100 young men, mostly Islamists, blocked the northern and southern roads into Tripoli with burning tyres on Saturday, demanding the release of a fellow resident accused of terrorism.
At least 100 people had previously tried to camp at the southern entrance of Tripoli, the largest city in northern Lebanon.
Black flags bearing the slogan of Islam, "God is Great", were planted alongside the Syrian flag of independence, a symbol of revolt in the neighbouring country.
"We will not leave until my brother is released," Nizar al-Mawlawi, whose 27-year-old brother Shadi was arrested by Lebanese security forces on Saturday.
According to a statement from the Lebanese security services, Shadi al-Mawlawi was arrested as part of an "investigation into his ties to a terrorist organisation," without going into details.
"The directorate under the supervision of the judiciary tracked down Shadi al-Mawlawi and managed to arrest him on Saturday at the entrance of finance minister Mohammed al-Safadi’s social services centre in Tripoli," the statement said.
Al-Safadi said that "Mawlawi was lured to the centre in al-Nour Square by security services on the pretext of granting him a healthcare benefit".
He slammed security forces for violating the law by raiding the centre and "shocking employees and citizens".
The minister demanded a probe be opened into the incident to punish those responsible.
Al-Safadi also demanded the immediate release of al-Mawlawi.
Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, condemned the arrest.
It criticised the "deplorable methods in luring citizens, which violates regulations and laws," calling for the immediate release of al-Mawlawi.
Salafist head in Lebanon Dai al-Islam al-Chaha said the arrest was a “new chapter in oppression, injustice and deprivation that the city has suffered from for decades”.
Prime minister Najib Mikati warned against portraying the northern port city as being out of the state’s control.
"Only Justice will achieve the people’s rights and we will always support those who are oppressed," Miqati said in a statement.
The premier discussed the situation in Tripoli with general Jean Qahwaji and the head of the security services, demanding they  restore calm in the city.
Syrian authorities have repeatedly charged that arms and fighters are being smuggled in from Lebanon to help the rebels fighting to overthrow Assad.
Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon under international pressure in 2005 after a 29-year presence, but Assad retains big influence in the small but geopolitically important country through his main ally, the Shiite guerrilla group Hezbollah, the only Lebanese party that has an officially approved arsenal.
Lebanon is divided between the opposition, backed by Washington and hostile to the Syrian regime, and Hezbollah, which dominates the government and is supported by Damascus and Tehran.