A cautious calm prevailed over the northern city of Tripoli early Thursday as weary citizens waited for the army and security forces to carry out a redeployment plan and halt clashes that have killed five people and wounded more than 80.

The Mufti of Tripoli, Sheikh Malek Shaar, told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa that an 'agreement between the rivals has been reached with the approval of all factions for the army deployment in the Baal Mohsen district.

'When the army deploys in the area it would be responsible for protecting it,' Sheikh Shaar said.

An army statement said 'the army has intensified its deployment in the tense area of Tripoli and it was agreed on with the various factions in the city that the army would deal with armed gunmen with force.'

Army officers on the scene told dpa that the troop deployment will start in Baal Mohsen, where followers of the Hezbollah-led opposition are positioned.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese army has maintained its deployment in Bab Tabbaneh, which is controlled by the Sunni followers of the ruling majority.

According to army officers most of the troops have been hit by sniper fire from Baal Mohsen.

Also, hospital sources in Tripol said most of the wounded were victims of sniper fire from Baal Mohsen district. Among the wounded were five Lebanese army soldiers.

'I was sitting in my house in Bab Tabbaneh when a sniper bullet hit my left hand,' said one of the wounded in a Tripoli hospital.

Most of the people in the tension areas stressed that the sniper fire is targeting everybody and called on the army to intervene with 'full force.'

'We do not want only a simple army deployment we want the army to protect the citizens from the danger of sniper fire from both sides,' said a resident of Bab Tabbanneh who wished not to be identified.

Masked gunmen were still in their positions in some allies deep inside the tense areas as the army started their deployment.

'We are still on alert until we feel that the army has taken full control of all areas,' said a Sunni masked gunmen in Bab Tabbaneh.

The clashes started Tuesday night between government supporters and Hezbollah's allies in northern Lebanon, which shattered a two-week-old truce in the area.

The fighting was triggered when three hand grenades exploded in a street separating the rival districts in Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city.

The hostilities come as Western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Seniora is struggling to form a national unity government in which Hezbollah will have veto power in all government decisions.

The Hezbollah-led opposition won the concession in May when rival leaders reached an agreement in Doha, Qatar, as part of an Arab-brokered deal that ended a political stalemate that threatened to plunge Lebanon into another civil war.

Meanwhile, the Tripoli violence spread tension overnight to the capital Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley.

In Beirut's districts of Qasqas and Tarik Jedideh, residents set fire to rubber tyres to block traffic in protest against the beating up of two members of the Future Current Movement, led by majority leader Saad Hariri, at the hands of the Shiite Amal movement.

In the Bekaa town of Taalabaya, in eastern Lebanon, two people were wounded in a brief clash between Hezbullah gunmen and Future current movement.

Army units contained acts of violence in the Bekaa and Beirut, but tension remains high.