Overnight clashes in Beirut leave one dead, 10 injured

Sunni groups take to the streets to battle out their differences over Syria

Anti-Assad regime protesters wave a giant Syrian revolutionary flag during a demonstration in Beirut in May (photo credit: AP/Bilal Hussein)
Anti-Assad regime protesters wave a giant Syrian revolutionary flag during a demonstration in Beirut in May (photo credit: AP/Bilal Hussein)

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese security officials say overnight clashes in Beirut between Sunni groups that support and oppose the regime in Damascus have killed one person and wounded 10.

The clashes in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Tariq Jadidah are Beirut’s worst in four years. They erupted hours after an anti-Syrian cleric and his bodyguard were shot dead in northern Lebanon.

The officials said Monday that the man who was killed was a member of a pro-Syrian Sunni group. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, which are easily enflamed. Last week, clashes sparked by the Syrian crisis killed at least eight people and wounded dozens in the northern city of Tripoli.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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