Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A planned protest in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli was cancelled Friday in attempts to avert problems between militants and the Lebanese Army.
Sheikh Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal, the son of the Lebanon's Salafist movement's founder, said the protest would be cancelled and that instead a prayer would be organized Grand Mansouri Mosque.
The protest was suspended because the situation in the city seems to be headed toward some form of a settlement,” Sheikh Nabil Rahim told The Daily Star.
On Thursday, clashes between the army and armed militants in Tripoli left on soldier dead. Tripoli has been the site of violent on-again-off-again clashes for years between supporters and opponents of Syria's Assad regime. The clashes have intensified since the start of the Syrian Civil war as Tripoli is often described by Lebanese leaders to be a "mailbox" for problems in the region.
[Naharnet]
