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Lebanese Minister Survives Convoy Attack

Lebanese Minister of Youth and Sports Faisal Karami survived an attack on his convoy by Salafist protesters on Jan. 18 in the northern city of Tripoli, reports Jean Aziz.
A burning car, which was part of Lebanese Minister of Sports and Youth Faisal Karami's convoy, is seen after it was ambushed by gunmen in the northern city of Tripoli January 18, 2013. Gunmen ambushed the convoy in Tripoli on Friday, wounding three people and riddling a security patrol car with bullets, medics and witnesses said. Karami, appeared to be unhurt, the medics said. REUTERS/Stringer (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)
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On Friday afternoon [Jan. 18], the city of Tripoli witnessed a security incident that is the first of its kind in Lebanon since the Lebanese Civil War ended in 1990.

Sunni Salafist groups were demonstrating at a square in Lebanon’s second largest city — after the capital, Beirut — to demand the release of their comrades who have been sitting in Lebanese prisons since 2007. These members were arrested for being involved in a violent battle that happened between May 20 and Sept. 5, 2007 at a Palestinian refugee camp located near Tripoli, known as the Nahr al-Bared camp. The battle was between the Lebanese army and a fundamentalist al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadist group, known as Fatah al-Islam.

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