Lebanese troops end two days of clashes in north

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - Lebanese troops deployed in Lebanon's second largest city on Monday, bringing calm after two days of sectarian fighting that has killed at least nine and dented a deal to restore political stability.

Witnesses said soldiers and policemen in armored troop carriers entered the outskirts of the northern city of Tripoli, scene of fighting between Sunni Muslim government supporters and Alawite gunmen close to the Hezbollah-led opposition.

The clashes subsided, then stopped as the forces deployed on the frontline between the Sunni Bab Tibbaneh area and Alawite Jabal Mohsen. The troops moved out into the small streets of both areas and gunmen disappeared.

Civilians returned behind the army to check their properties on the frontline with some shops and apartments still smoldering.

"Poor people on both sides pay the price," a man, who did not give his name, said as he checked his shop in the area. "The army must impose its authority on the ground and confiscate weapons from the hands of people."

The army said in a statement it would start implementing measures to restore an enduring calm and warned that it would use force if necessary to end the bloodshed.

UNITY GOVERNMENT

Sunni parliamentary majority leader Saad al-Hariri called on his followers in Tripoli to cooperate with the army.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told a news conference in Vienna, where he is attending an aid conference: "We really condemn every use of weapons against civilians, and the use of weapons inside the country...These are really acts that will undermine the stability of the country."

Last month Lebanon ended its 18-month political crisis with the Western-backed coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition reaching a Qatari-mediated accord. The conflict had led to a violent showdown that threatened a new civil war.

Since then there have been frequent minor security incidents.

Delays in forming a national unity government as stipulated in last month's accord have raised fears of a further deterioration in the security situation and a collapse in efforts to resolve the political standoff. The flare-up in Tripoli is the biggest test yet of the accord.

Security sources said at least nine people had been killed and 50 wounded in the fighting that erupted at dawn on Sunday. Several homes, shops and cars were destroyed in the clashes in the mainly Sunni port city.

The warring sides had exchanged machinegun fire, grenades and mortar bombs. Scores of families fled and sought safe haven in other parts of the city and nearby villages.

Tripoli is dominated by Lebanon's anti-Syrian Sunni-led majority coalition while a majority of Alawites have close ties to Syria, which is ruled by an Alawite and is allied to the opposition.

Alawites are a small offshoot of Shi'ite Islam which dominates the Baathist government in neighboring Syria. Their numbers are small in Lebanon but they gained some political clout during Syria's military presence in Lebanon.

(Writing by Nadim Ladki; Editing by Ralph Boulton)