Tripoli death toll rises to 14: Sleiman holds emergency meeting

Lebanese government’s attempts to repatriate the bodies have failed The Lebanese government’s attempts to repatriate the bodies of the 14 Islamists who were killed in a Syrian ambush have failed, as the Syrian side gradually imposed his own agenda. Despite the Director General of Public Security’s visit to Syria to collect all the bodies at once, Damascus decided to deliver the bodies separately. Three bodies were repatriated on Sunday morning. An autopsy on each body will be conducted, revealed a medical source.
In parallel, the Supreme Council met on Sunday for a defence meeting under President Michel Sleiman’s leadership.
On reception of the bodies, a spokesman for Lebanon’s top Islamic body, Dar al-Fatwa, said: “We are grateful for all the parties that accelerated the release of the bodies and we hope the rest of the bodies will return soon. Dar Al-Fatwa supervised the handover of the bodies.”
The uneasy calm didn’t last for long in Tripoli as four people were killed and 40 were injured in sectarian clashes in Lebanon’s Tripoli on Sunday, an official source said.
Sunni Muslims and Alawites – who support Bashar al-Assad’s regime – exchanged bullets and rocket fire in Jabal Mohsen. Two members of each community were killed.
Sunday’s clash was the first one since the army deployed security measures on Friday to protect the two neighbourhoods.
In a statement to Arabstoday, the Minister of Interior Marwan Charbel said that the Supreme Defence Council will take important decisions to tackle the sectarian strife in Tripoli.