TRIPOLI, Lebanon — Soon after sunset on Thursday, Mohammed, a Sunni Muslim fighter in this seaside city of a half-million people, entered his commander’s sitting room toying with a small Russian-made hand grenade, rolling it in his hand and gently tugging on its ring with his index finger. Mohammed, with a headful of long dark locks and wearing a drab olive vest, had come to request three more grenades, hoping to toss them at the Alawite-majority neighborhood of Jebel Mohsen just a few dozen meters away.
Abu Bera, the commander of 50-60 fighters in Tripoli’s Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood, was hesitant. A cease-fire had technically been in effect since the night before, but that had not stopped the occasional exchange of potshots between rival Sunni and Alawite militias throughout the day on Thursday. To a degree, Abu Bera was sick of the fighting and did not want his fighters to help encourage a return to full-blown battle.
