Sniper fire punctures calm in Tripoli

28 May 2013

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Sniper fire in the northern city of Tripoli Monday evening punctured the lull in fighting between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which has claimed 29 lives since hostilities erupted last week.

Fadwa Saleh, Ismail Mohammad and Abbas Hasan were among the eight wounded in skirmishes that took place Monday between Assad supporters positioned in the predominantly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen and Syrian opposition supporters from the mainly Sunni Bab alTabbaneh. Three of the wounded were reportedly from Jabal Mohsen.

The Army responded to the sniper fire in Tripoli’s Qibbeh, Riva and Baqqar neighborhoods.

The sniper fire came after a cease-fire was brokered by a local sheikh and the Army. Sheikh Khaled Sayyed, who heads a mosque in Bab al-Tabbaneh, held intensive talks with local field commanders Sunday that led to a brief period of calm in the city, sources told The Daily Star.

The truce was apparently aimed at securing the safe deployment of the Army throughout Bab al-Tabbaneh.

Though the Army managed to bolster its presence on the ground, sandbags still obstructed the roads to the enclosed areas of Bab al-Tabbaneh. Sayyed is continuing with his efforts to secure the full deployment of the Army in the Sunni neighborhood.

After attending a Cabinet session, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the Army has full political support to act decisively in Tripoli.

For the first time in nearly a week, residents of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh passed a calm night Sunday.

Soldiers carried out patrols along Syria Street only, which separates the two neighborhoods.

Intermittent machine-gun fire could be heard as reporters toured the mainly Sunni neighborhood.

Many residents were hesitant to reopen their shops on Syria Street and in Bab al-Tabbaneh. Some who had fled their homes preferred not to return before being certain that normality had been restored. Schools remained closed for a second week Monday.

Roads along Syria Street and the interior of both neighborhoods remained mostly vacant, however, as passersby walked cautiously to avoid sniper fire. Vehicles began collecting garbage that had accumulated on the streets where fighting had ensued over the past week.

Umm Walid, who was displaced to Beddawi from Tripoli after the clashes erupted, urged the state to restore calm in the city to allow her to return home.

“We want the state to protect us and help us return to our homes,” she said.

“We don’t care about the material damages incurred [due to the fighting] because it is nothing compared to those who lost their lives.”

The woman is among 500 families who were forced to leave the neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh, Zahrieh, Mankoubin and Mallouleh after the fighting, to seek shelter in two schools in Beddawi.

Non-governmental organizations distributed clothing, foodstuff and baby milk powder to the families in Beddawi.

The relative calm that was observed in Tripoli Sunday night and Monday was conditional on the demands made by the leaders of armed groups in Bab al-Tabbaneh, raising doubts over whether it would hold.

The commanders demanded that the Army’s Fourth Regiment Intervention Brigade withdraw from its neighborhood and that Arab Democratic Party head Rifaat Eid leave Jabal Mohsen.

Bab al-Tabbaneh fighters also insisted that the government pay compensation for the damage incurred during the clashes.

Rifaat Eid, whose ADP is the dominant party in Jabal Mohsen, is to hold a news conference at his office Tuesday.