GCC warns citizens against travelling to Lebanon as bloodshed escalates

Gen Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, GCC secretary, said that it was not safe for the people of the Gulf to go to Lebanon, which is unstable.

The Alawite Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood in the port city of Tripoli, northern Lebanon, has just been one flashpoint for violence in the country. Reuters / Stringer
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The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has warned its citizens against travelling to or staying in Lebanon, which could put their safety at risk.

Gen Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, GCC secretary, said that it was not safe for the people of the Gulf to go to Lebanon, which is unstable.

On Monday, gunmen opened fire on a prominent pro-Hezbollah Sunni cleric in southern Lebanon but failed to hit him, security officials said. The attack on Sheikh Maher Hammoud in the port city of Sidon is another sign that Syria's civil war has spilt over into neighbouring Lebanon.

Clashes also raged into the night Sunday between Sunnis and Alawites in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, killing one person and wounding at least 14 people, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency.

On Monday, gun battles subsided in Tripoli, although there was still sniper activity in several neighbourhoods most affected by the fighting, the official news service said. Lebanese army is patrolling the city and universities, schools and business have opened, it added.

Over the weekend, three rockets from Syria struck northeastern Lebanon and 18 rockets and mortar rounds hit Lebanon's eastern Baalbek region, a Hizbollah stronghold.

From Saturday night into Sunday, Hizbollah encircled and ambushed Syrian rebels and allied Lebanese fighters whom they suspected of rocketing Baalbek, a Lebanese security official said.