Paris Urges Lebanese Not to 'Import Syrian Conflict'

France on Monday condemned the violence in the northern city of Tripoli and urged the Lebanese “not to import the Syrian conflict.”

“France calls on all the Lebanese to put their country’s interest above all else and to give priority to dialogue, national unity and civil peace, in order to avoid importing a conflict they have nothing to do with into their country,” French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

“France condemns these acts of violence” and “against the backdrop of the Syrian crisis, it supports the Lebanese authorities’ efforts to ease the domestic tensions,” Valero added.

Sectarian violence linked to the unrest in Syria claimed another two lives in the northern port city of Tripoli on Monday as sporadic bursts of gunfire and RPG explosions were heard on the different fronts where gunbattles took place over the weekend.

The National News Agency said that another 45 people were injured in the fighting that erupted on Saturday night between the rival neighborhoods of mainly Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh and majority Alawite Jabal Mohsen.

The new deaths increased the toll to five in the clashes that included the use of automatic rifles, Rocket Propelled Grenades and Energa-type rockets.

The Lebanese army has sent reinforcements to the city and warned that it would not tolerate any attempt to shake Tripoli’s security and stability.

The gunbattles erupted over the General Security Department’s arrest of an Islamist, Shadi al-Mawlawi, by luring him to an office of Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi’s welfare association under the pretext that he would receive health care.

Al-Mawlawi was seized for allegedly contacting a terrorist organization. Media reports said that the suspect is an avid supporter of the Syrian revolution against President Bashar Assad’s regime.