BEIRUT – Clashes broke out in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli Tuesday between gunmen loyal to opposing sides in neighboring Syria's civil war, wounding one person, residents said. Tensions had been rising since the reported death in a Syrian town close to the border of at least 14 Lebanese and Palestinian gunmen from north Lebanon. They appeared to have joined insurgents pursuing a 20-month-old revolt against President Bashar Al-Assad. The sectarian makeup of Tripoli has made it a flashpoint within Lebanon reflecting the worsening conflict in Syria, an uprising that is being waged mostly by Sunni Muslims and largely opposed by minorities like Assad's own Alawite sect. Tripoli is a majority Sunni city with a small Alawite minority and has erupted in clashes several times since the Syrian revolt began. Residents said violence flared overnight when rocket-propelled grenades were fired by gunmen in the Sunni neighborhood of Bab Al-Tabbaneh and the Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen. Fighting broke out Tuesday morning after Sunni gunmen approached some Alawite shops. One person was wounded in Jabal Mohsen, residents said. – Reuters
