Lebanese violence reaches Tripoli

Fighting has been reported through the night in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between Hezbollah sympathisers and supporters of the government. Machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades are being used and people have been fleeing their homes, correspondents say. Lebanese violence reaches Tripoli Three people died in the northern city on Saturday. Meanwhile, an uneasy calm has descended on the capital, Beirut, scene of four days of bloody street battles. More than 30 people died in those clashes between Hezbollah fighters and government supporters. On Saturday, Hezbollah agreed to pull its fighters off the streets of the Muslim western part of the city after the army overturned government measures aimed at curbing the group. Offices burnt Sunni supporters of the Western-backed government have been fighting members of an Alawite sect loyal to Hezbollah in Tripoli, an unnamed security official told AFP news agency. About 7,000 people have fled from the city's Bab al-Tebbaneh district, which marks the front line, the official said. Earlier, pro-government demonstrators burnt offices of the pro-Syrian Baath Party offices. They stamped on posters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. They could also be seen throwing furniture and files from the Baath offices and a local opposition politician's office, The Associated Press reports. Face-saving initiative The confrontation in Beirut eased off after the army offered a face-saving compromise that allowed the government to back down from two controversial decisions. The government had moved to shut down Hezbollah's telecoms network and remove the chief of security at Beirut airport for alleged Hezbollah sympathies. Those decisions triggered a devastating Hezbollah onslaught, the BBC reports from Beirut. The army has essentially shelved both of them. Managing to retain its unity and the respect of both sides, the army has emerged as the arbiter in the current crisis, our correspondent says. If all goes well, the army initiative should restore calm on the streets and see the international airport reopen. While it does not address the fundamental political deadlock underlying the eruption of violence, it has created a problem-solving mechanism that may help movement in that direction. Our correspondent notes that all parties agree that the army commander, Gen Michel Suleiman, should be Lebanon's next president.

Lebanese violence reaches Tripoli

Three people died in the northern city on Saturday.

Meanwhile, an uneasy calm has descended on the capital, Beirut, scene of four days of bloody street battles.

More than 30 people died in those clashes between Hezbollah fighters and government supporters.

On Saturday, Hezbollah agreed to pull its fighters off the streets of the Muslim western part of the city after the army overturned government measures aimed at curbing the group.

Offices burnt

Sunni supporters of the Western-backed government have been fighting members of an Alawite sect loyal to Hezbollah in Tripoli, an unnamed security official told AFP news agency.

About 7,000 people have fled from the city's Bab al-Tebbaneh district, which marks the front line, the official said.

Earlier, pro-government demonstrators burnt offices of the pro-Syrian Baath Party offices.

They stamped on posters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

They could also be seen throwing furniture and files from the Baath offices and a local opposition politician's office, The Associated Press reports.

Face-saving initiative

The confrontation in Beirut eased off after the army offered a face-saving compromise that allowed the government to back down from two controversial decisions.

The government had moved to shut down Hezbollah's telecoms network and remove the chief of security at Beirut airport for alleged Hezbollah sympathies.

Those decisions triggered a devastating Hezbollah onslaught, the BBC reports from Beirut.

The army has essentially shelved both of them.

Managing to retain its unity and the respect of both sides, the army has emerged as the arbiter in the current crisis, our correspondent says.

If all goes well, the army initiative should restore calm on the streets and see the international airport reopen.

While it does not address the fundamental political deadlock underlying the eruption of violence, it has created a problem-solving mechanism that may help movement in that direction.

Our correspondent notes that all parties agree that the army commander, Gen Michel Suleiman, should be Lebanon's next president.