Two Lebanese were killed in the southern city of Sidon on Sunday in a gunbattle between supporters of the Shiite movement Hezbollah and hard-line Sunni cleric Ahmed al-Assir, a security official said.
"Two people were killed and seven injured in clashes between supporters of Sheikh Ahmed al-Assir and Hezbollah near a Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon. One of the injured was a representative for Hezbollah for the area," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
An AFP correspondent in Sidon said Assir had given an ultimatum to Hezbollah supporters in the southern port city to take down all posters promoting the Shiite militia, but that they refused.
Supporters of the cleric then ripped down a poster of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, a staunch ally of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, and clashes ensued.
Unknown before the outbreak of the uprising in neighbouring Syria last year, Assir rose to prominence for his outspoken opposition to the Assad regime and his calls for disarming Hezbollah, the strongest military force in the country. In response to Sunday's killings, Prime Minister Najib Mikati called an emergency meeting with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and the regional security council for southern Lebanon.
Afterwards, Mikati said he had requested the army and security agencies take prompt measures to bring the situation under control and arrest those behind the violence.
"We call on everyone to remain calm and execute restraint at this critical and delicate juncture," said the premier.
Lebanon's opposition coalition has accused Mikati, a prominent Sunni figure, of complacency in leading a Hezbollah-controlled government.
The Syrian revolt has deepened political and religious divisions in Lebanon, which is split between supporters and opponents of the Damascus regime dominated by Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
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