Najib Mikati calls for calm against sedition attempts

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati in meeting Beirut – Georges Chahine Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called on the people of Tripoli to remain calm and not be drawn into those encouraging conflict in the city. He reassured the public that the Lebanese army and security forces have taken all necessary measures to establish peace and prevent attempts of creating sedition among the people of Tripoli.
A man was killed and 11 wounded in a second day of sectarian clashes in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli on Wednesday between gunmen loyal to opposing sides in neighbouring Syria\'s civil war, residents said.
At least four people have died and 39 have been wounded in two days of fighting in Tripoli on Lebanon\'s northern Mediterranean coast.
Tension had been building since the deaths of at least 14 Lebanese and Palestinian gunmen from north Lebanon in a Syrian town close to the border on Friday. They appeared to have joined insurgents waging a 20-month-old revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian state television has also shown graphic footage of the dead men, riddled with gunshot wounds and lying in the grass, which PrimeMinister Najib Mikati described as a \"disgusting act\".
Information minister, Walid Daouk, reported on the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, saying that the conference opened with Mikati expressing his congratulations to the Palestinian people over the vote that won Palestine the position of non-member observer state. The status upgrade, Mikati said, should serve as an incentive for further efforts in order to achieve more Palestinian ambitions.
Daouk reported that the Prime Minister contacted George Montani, the representative for Red Cross in Lebanon and asked for his organisation to intervene with concerned authorities in Syria. He pushed for them to help recover bodies of Lebanese fighters who were killed in Syria.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour has asked the Syrian ambassador to hand over the bodies of the men after their families rallied in Tripoli to demand the Lebanese government return the dead and determine the whereabouts of the missing.
“We reiterate our call to all Lebanese people,” Mikati said at the meeting, “to keep our country and ourselves away from intervention in the Syrian events so that we do not pay the price for conflicts that we cannot afford.”