Masked Sunni gunmen hold their weapons at village of Beireh, in Akkar, north Lebanon, (Photo: AP)
Protesters blocked roads in Lebanon's northern Akkar region for a third day on Tuesday, a security official said, amid mounting tension over the conflict in neighbouring Syria.
"Some of the roads have been blocked in Halba and Sheikh Ayash," the official, who requested anonymity, told AFP.
The road closures were linked to the weekend killing of two clerics at an army checkpoint in Akkar, a mainly Sunni region whose inhabitants are hostile to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The killings ignited street battles in the capital Beirut that left two people dead and 18 wounded.
The security official said that tension was also high on Tuesday in anticipation of a decision by judicial officials on whether to free an Islamist arrested earlier this month in the northern city of Tripoli on charges of belonging to a terrorist organisation.
Shadi al-Mawlawi's arrest sparked deadly sectarian clashes in the port city between Sunnis and Alawites, who back the regime in Damascus.
Mawlawi's supporters say he was targeted because he was helping Syrian refugees fleeing the unrest in their country.
The unrest in Lebanon highlighted deep divisions in the country over Syria.
The opposition led by former premier Saad Hariri backs the revolt against Assad, while the ruling coalition in which the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah plays a key role supports the Damascus regime.
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