Lebanon divided over Syria's political turmoil..

Seven people have been killed and more than 50 wounded after fighting in northern Lebanon between two Muslim communities divided over Syria.

Street battles between Sunnis and Alawites in the city of Tripoli continued for a second night running after the gun battle took place triggered by the division in Syria.

Rivalry between the two groups has been fuelled by conflicting loyalties in the conflict across the border.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, is battling largely Sunni opposition fighters.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, himself a Sunni, appealed to both sides to end the "absurd battle".

"We have repeatedly warned against being drawn into this blaze that has spread around Lebanon," he said,

He urged Tripoli residents "not to allow anyone to transform you into ammunition for someone else's war".
Intense clashes

Gunmen in the Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbana and Alawites in Jabal Muhsin exchanged gun and grenade fire overnight, residents were quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Two men killed were identified as residents of Jabal Muhsin, which overlooks a predominantly Sunni area where five people died, medical sources told the agency.
    Local  residents of the city complained that the authorities had failed to restore order.

So far there is no signs of the conflict letting go and the army still failing to intervene. It was tried to deploy troops yesterday but it was forced to evacuate when some of its soldiers came under attack leaving some dead.

Tripoli is one of Lebanon's most volatile sectarian faultlines, with a small Alawite community living in the midst of a Sunni majority, the BBC's Barbara Plett reports from the capital, Beirut.

Violence flared several times recently but locals say the last two days of clashes have been particularly intense, our correspondent says.

One witness said heavier weapons were being used, and over a larger area than normal.
Dangerous divisions

Government is trying  to disassociate the country from the Syrian crisis, amid concern that it might re-ignite the divisions that fuelled Lebanon's own 15-year civil war.