Lebanese government troops were deployed on Beirut’s streets on
Monday to stop fierce gun battles which were raging between Shi’ite and
Sunny Muslims.
The delicate balance between the sects was upset by the
assassination of top Lebanese security official, Wissal al-Hassan on
Friday.
He was killed along with seven others by a car bomb shortly after
heading the arrest of a former Lebanese minister who was close to Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad.
Lebanon is still scarred by its 1975-1990 civil war and sectarian
tensions remain. Some fear the latest violence is a sign of Syria’s
conflict crossing the border.
Lebanon’s Shi’ite Hezbollah group backs President Assad but the
country’s Sunni’s are mostly in support of the Sunni-led insurgency.
