Even though Lebanon has been relatively spared so far from the situation in Syria, with few incidents reported, the escalation that witnessed thecity of Tripoli yesterday was alarming and forced a heavy deployment in the army during the night, with cleansing operations expected to begin in the morning.

 

A large number of Army men had deployed few days ago in Wadi Khaled, an area which have been welcoming thousands of Syrian refugees in the past few months, and which have witnessed several Syrian incursions to capture or kill Syrian army defectors and at one point two Lebanon. There’s a fear of invasion in Wadi Khaled, as reported by some of its citizens.

 

As for Tripoli,  a blast in an arms depot increased tensions in the city, where clashes between pro- and anti-Syria gunmen erupted earlier in the day in the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen. Two Lebanese army soldiers and three civilians were wounded in the clashes. [Naharnet]. Meanwhile, PM Najib Mikati is meeting Sarkozy in France and reassuring him that Lebanon plans to stay neutral from the Syrian crisis.