Situation tense in east Lebanon after clashes between gunman and troops

Описание: (2 Feb 2013) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Arsal village
2. Various of armoured personnel carriers at military checkpoint
3. Various of children holding banners during protest against Friday's clashes
4. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Bassel Al-Hujairi, Arsal resident:
"What happened in Arsal is clearly a killing of a Lebanese citizen in front of his house as he was heading to prayers. He was not a criminal or a terrorist, and not a fugitive. He was a real Muslim, and they killed him in his car in cold blood and tried to accuse him of being a terrorist."
5. Mid of damaged car, reportedly belonging to shooting victim
6. Close of bullet holes in windshield
7. Broken glass and blood stains on back seat of car
8. Wide of memorial gathering
STORYLINE:
Residents of a northeastern Lebanese village denied on Saturday that a man purportedly killed in clashes with soldiers a day earlier was a "fugitive".
The National News Agency said the victim, Khaled Hamid, was suspected of being involved in last year's kidnapping of seven Estonian tourists.
The tourists were abducted in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley and held for nearly four months before being released in July.
According to an official - who declined to give further details and spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations - gunmen in the village of Arsal ambushed an army intelligence unit sent to arrest Hamid.
Witnesses said Hamid was subsequently killed.
According to a police official and the state-run news agency, at least three soldiers were killed and five wounded in the clashes, which were near the Syrian border.
However, on Saturday, Arsal resident Bassel Al-Hujairi said that Hamid was "not a criminal or a terrorist and not a fugitive".
"He was a real Muslim and they killed him in his car in cold blood and tried to accuse him of being a terrorist," he told the Associated Press.
Hamid's car appeared to be riddled with bullet holes, with blood stains and shattered glass on the back seat.
It was unclear if Friday's clashes were related to the civil war in Syria.
Deadly street clashes between pro- and anti-Syrians in Lebanon related to the Syrian conflict have erupted on several occasions in Lebanon, adding to the country's own sectarian tensions.
A senior Lebanese army officer said clashes were under way with gunmen in the area, but did not disclose further details.
Residents of Arsal, a Sunni Muslim town, are known to be sympathetic to the Syrian opposition fighting to topple President Bashar Assad next door, and arms smuggling into Syria is widespread in the area.
Since the armed uprising against Assad began, the town has become a sanctuary for war-weary Syrian rebels, a way station for wounded fighters and home to hundreds of Syrian refugee families.

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